Singur's farmers discover the lie of the land

Unwilling land-losers to the Tata Nano project in Bengal remain the biggest victims of the politics that brought Banerjee to power

By Ishita Ayan Dutt  |  Kolkata  July 23, 2013

Business Standard, Columns

Singur has always been kind to Mamata Banerjee. First, it resurrected her political career. Then, just days before the panchayat elections this month, as angst over an unending wait for the return of land acquired for Tata Motors' small car project from farmers who did not wish to sell was growing, the Supreme Court suggested that the company return the land.

Banerjee and Singur share a history that dates back to 2006. On May 18, that year, a beaming Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who had just been sworn in for a second term as chief minister, announced - flanked by Ratan Tata and Tata Sons' brass at Writers' Buildings - that the project to make the world's cheapest car, the Nano, would be located in Bengal. "How do you like the beginning?" he asked reporters, a reference to his attempt to attract big business to Bengal. Little did he know that this signature project would mark the beginning of the end of the Left Front's 34-year dominance in the state.

It was Bhattacharjee's ambition to put Bengal back at the forefront of industrialisation, and he believed the Nano project was the first step towards realising it. Getting the project to locate itself on agricultural land about an hour's drive from Kolkata wasn't easy. Tata Motors' interest came with the rider that the state government should offer fiscal incentives equivalent to the value of those offered by Uttarakhand, whose backward state designation allowed it to deliver income tax and excise duty relief.

Naturally, the incentive package an eager state government devised for Tata Motors was extremely friendly. It offered the following:

(a) Industrial promotion assistance from the state industrial development corporation in the form of a loan at 0.1 per cent interest for amounts equal to the Value Added Tax and Central Sales Tax the Bengal government received on Nano sales in each of the previous years ended March 31. The loan, with interest, was to be repayable in annual instalments after the 30th anniversary of the plant starting sales.

(b) A 90-year lease for 645.67 acres at Singur at an annual rental of Rs 1 crore for the first five years. The rent would increase 25 per cent after every five years for 30 years; Rs 5 crore a year from the 31st year with an increase of 30 per cent every 10 years till the 60th year; Rs 20 crore a year from the 61st year to the 90th year.

(c) A loan of Rs 200 crore at 1 per cent interest repayable in five equal annual instalments from the 21st year.

(d) Electricity at Rs 3 per kwh. If the rates were raised more than Rs 0.25 per kwh in any block of five years, the government would provide relief through additional compensation to neutralise the increase.

It wasn't this package, which would have meant a significant forfeiture of state revenue, that exercised the politics of West Bengal as much as Banerjee's decision to make the discontent of 2,000-odd unwilling land-losers - who accounted for roughly 180 acres of land - the centre of her political campaign.

But from August 24, 2008, Banerjee and her party laid an indefinite siege to the area around the plant. She claimed unwilling land-losers accounted for 400 acres and not 181 acres as the state claimed. The 400 acres, she felt, could be retrieved from the vendors' park, which was adjacent to the mother plant, and the remaining 600-odd acres could be reserved for the project.

The demand was untenable to Tata Motors. To keep the cost of the Nano at Rs 1 lakh, it was imperative to maintain the integrated nature of the project. With Banerjee's energetic help, the protests reached such a pitch that Ratan Tata announced the headline-grabbing decision to relocate the project, which it did with even more fanfare to Sanand in Gujarat.

Despite this, Banerjee as chief minister never budged from her position. Hours after taking charge at Writers' Buildings, the state secretariat, she announced the Cabinet decision to return land to unwilling land-losers. After a flip-flop over an Ordinance, the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill was passed in the West Bengal Assembly on June 14, 2011, vesting the entire land allocated to Tata Motors and its vendors with the state government.

A week after the Bill was passed, Tata Motors moved court challenging it. The first round went to Banerjee. A Calcutta High Court single-judge order declared the Act valid. The Division Bench (moved by Tata Motors), however, set aside the single-judge order and struck down the Act, primarily because it was in conflict with the Land Acquisition Act of 1894. The state then filed an appeal in the Supreme Court.

It was while hearing an appeal challenging the quashing of the Act that the Supreme Court asked the Tata group to make its stand clear on the leasehold rights over Singur. But it is unlikely that the Tata group will give up the fight. It's not just about the land; for the group, it's as important to clear its name from the Banerjee government's allegation that it had "abandoned" the project, which is the basis for the Singur Act. In reality, the plant, at the time of pullout, was 80 per cent ready.

Tata Motors had invested over Rs 1,800 crore in developing and levelling the land, and constructed the plant in 13 months. Trial production had even started. "...no stone was left unturned to ensure that commencement of production happens in time to meet the targeted launch date of November, 2008," the company's petition to the court said. Thirteen vendors had also finished constructing their plants, and 17 others were at various stages of construction.

Hypothetically, even if the Supreme Court verdict goes against Tata Motors, returning the land would be well-nigh impossible. The land belonging to the unwilling farmers doesn't add up to 400 acres, as Banerjee has repeatedly claimed, and more importantly, it's scattered over the 997 acres. Then again, 11,000 farmers who willingly sold are likely to object if their land were bagged by unwilling farmers, when they had actually given it for an industrial project. Indeed, they, too, are in court challenging the Act.

Still, the court's comments have breathed fresh hope into the "unwilling" farmers of Singur. They have waited seven years. They took a leap of faith when Banerjee told them their land would be returned. But so far, they have neither received the compensation offered from the state government (because they refused to accept the cheques and thereby became unwilling) nor the land. They remain the biggest victims of Banerjee's populist politics.

The chit fund, media, Trinamool tangle in West Bengal

Reported by Alok Pandey, Edited by Sindhu Manjesh |

NDTV, Updated: May 01, 2013 22:15 IST

   

Kolkata: The Saradha Group that collapsed last month controlled many television channels and newspapers in West Bengal. So do some other companies that have been accused of running Saradha-like get-rich-quick schemes.

Over the last two years, Mamata Banerjee's political opponents have alleged that the ruling Trinamool Congress that she heads has tried to control the media in the state, particularly through the publications and channels owned by such companies.

Senior journalist Manas Ghosh of The Statesman says that the editorial stance of these media groups is very pro-Mamata Banerjee. "When Mamata came to power, I told her, 'What is this?' She said to me 'these people are all cheats'. Yet, a few days later, I started seeing government advertisements with prominent photos of Mamata in these papers and TV channels," he said.

At inquiry into Saradha's chit-fund scam, stories of loss and despair In March last year, Mamata Banerjee controversially banned several leading newspapers from public libraries in the state and listed eight newspapers they could subscribe to. Two of them were Saradha group publications and one published by the Rose Valley Group, which is being investigated by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India.

Also last year, Ms Banerjee picked four journalists to be Rajya Sabha MPs from her party, provoking more allegations that she was trying to control the media in the state.

One of these MPs was Kunal Ghosh, who headed the Saradha Group's media wing and who is now in trouble because of that association. Two FIRs have been filed against him by Saradha's media employees, who allege he knew of the group's precarious finances, but did not warn them.

Mr Ghosh has promised to quit his Rajya Sabha seat "if any probe reveals that I have taken advantage of the chit fund business".

The Saradha Group had four TV channels and about 10 newspapers, all of which have shut down. The Rose Valley Group owns nine satellite television channels, including news channels and also a newspaper.

Other groups against whom the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has received complaints - like the Chakra Group, the Tower Group, and the Rahul Group - also own media publications or channels.

Story first published: May 01, 2013 19:42 IST 

Historic math and hidden factors How Mitra drove the ‘growth’

By DEVADEEP PUROHIT THE TELEGRAPH, Tuesday , March 12 , 2013

Calcutta, March 11: Finance minister Amit Mitra today claimed “historic” success by the government in increasing revenue by around 30 per cent, the figure creating an impression that economic activity in Bengal has grown significantly in the current financial year. But the fine-print suggests he should thank many factors other than increased economic activity in the state for the feat. “In this financial year, our revenue collection target was fixed at Rs 31,000 crore (taking the growth rate at 25 per cent). You will be happy to know that we will exceed the targeted tax collection (according to revised estimates) and cross the Rs 32,000-crore-mark. Even this is a historic all-time record,” Mitra said while presenting his second full budget today amid table-thumping from the treasury benches. Here are Mitra’s numbers: he set a tax revenue target of Rs 31,222.25 crore in his last budget for this financial year. The revised estimates say the revenue realisation touched Rs 32,405.21 crore – 30 per cent more than that in 2011-12. A closer look at what drove this 30 per cent growth tells a story Mitra did not recount today. A mixture of a new entry tax, a one-time spike in power duty, a surge in coal cess because of a change in central policy, the multiple increases in petro-product prices and a hard squeeze on the tipplers of Bengal is the principal factor behind the “30 per cent” jump. These five factors plus stamp and registration fee — a telltale sign of the state’s sole thriving business of real estate — account for Rs 4,769 crore. Few of these drivers can be termed as the results of the Mamata Banerjee government’s work. Rather, Manmohan Singh’s petro price policy, much maligned by the Trinamul Congress, has played a role in helping Mitra reach the “historic” landmark. If the largely serendipitous factors are taken out of the revenue pot, the revised budget figure will come down to Rs 27,636 crore against Rs 24,938 crore the year before. Or, from 30 per cent, the growth rate plunges to 11 per cent. This suggests that shorn of the serendipitous factors, the rate of revenue growth is expected to be more in line with — if not lower than — what the Left had clocked when it was in power. Besides, the 11 per cent growth reflects more faithfully the ground situation in Bengal, where the government’s hands-off land policy and its failure to attract big industry are showing up in listless economic activity. The new government has taken some revenue mobilisation initiatives like simplification measures and e-governance initiatives, which have thrown up positive results, but they alone cannot trigger a 30 per cent growth. “If one concludes that the 30 per cent growth in revenues means heightened economic activity in Bengal, there is a mistake,” said a senior state government official. According to him, an analysis of sales tax mop-up in the last few years can explain that there has been no remarkable change in the level of economic activity. Sales tax collection is a better indicator of economic activity. On the sales tax front, Mitra has failed to meet his budget target of 29 per cent hike. His mop-up this fiscal year is 19.5 per cent more than 2011-12 (actual). A year before -— between 2010-11 (budget estimate) and 2011-12 (actual) —sales tax collections had grown by around 29.6 per cent. For 2013-14, Mitra has projected a modest 12.9 per cent growth over the budget estimate of 2012-13. “It is evident that even the finance minister is lowering his sales tax growth target. This is not a good sign as the sales tax mop-up also includes earnings from petroleum products through cess and surcharge,” said an official. “This year’s rise is primarily because of some one-time spikes under some heads,” added another official. One of the key elements in the list is the local area entry tax that Mitra had introduced in his budget last year. Budget documents reveal that the mop-up on this account — mentioned as taxes on goods and passengers — has been Rs 1,250 crore. Such steep hikes can be seen under some other heads as well, which, officials warn, will not be available in other years. Take, for instance, the case of taxes and duties on electricity, under which the government has earned around Rs 800 crore extra in comparison to 2011-12. The high income from electricity duty, according to sources in the power department, had accumulated over two financial years as the state-owned power utilities had been unable to pay duty for most of 2011-12 because chief minister Mamata Banerjee had not allowed a power tariff hike till December 2011. The subsequent hikes in power tariff also helped. “The duty was paid in 2012-13 for both years, which is why the jump appears steep for one fiscal year,” said an official. Another significant component on the revenue side has been a Rs 400-crore-plus increase over last year in excise collection because of the government’s decision to allow some liquor off-shops to operate as on-shops and increase in bar timings. “All these factors contributed to ensure 30 per cent growth in revenue this year…. He is unlikely to get the same benefit year after year. The question is ‘what will happen to his budget arithmetic then’?” asked an officer. Unpredictable revenue is not the sole reason behind apprehensions about the budget arithmetic going haywire. The fiscal profligacy of the chief minister can burn a big hole in the expenditure projections of Mitra’s budget ahead of an election year. The budget documents reveal that Mitra got a taste of Mamata’s spending spree this year as the budgeted deficit on the revenue account almost doubled this fiscal year, from Rs 6976.01 crore to Rs 13,308.10 crore. According to Mitra’s budget estimates, the deficit for 2013-14 will be Rs 3,488.49 crore, around Rs 10,000 crore less than that this fiscal.

Is Mamata giving communal politics a chance in Bengal?

Written by: Shubham Ghosh

ONE INDIA, Updated: Tuesday, September 4, 2012, 10:41 [IST]

Mamata is often heard of shouting "Don't let them start riots in Bengal!." Who are "they"? Where is riot happening in Bengal? On the contrary, an educated middle-class led by a secular Leftist leadership nurtured a socio-economic culture in Bengal which was not traditionally characterised by caste and minority politics. But in the post-Left Front times, we are clearly seeing how casteist politics is making its way in the Bengali society. We have seen how the Matua sect and Muslims are being mobilised by the Mamata Banerjee, the latter in a more fragmented way.

Mamata encouraging communal forces

The BJP, which has never succeeded in fomenting a communal way of politics in the state, has been feeling encouraged only because Mamata, today, is intending to appease the minorities. We all know soft communalism in the name of secularism will eventually lead to the growth of a hard, reactionary communalism. The Congress's ploy and the BJP's rise as a counter-force have left such examples in the past. The recent protest over the construction of Aligarh Muslim University campus in Murshidabad is a classic case.

The BJP wouldn't have to sweat it out if Mamata continues with her appeasement policy for another three-and-half years and beyond (for I believe that she will come back to power in 2016 even if with a reduced majority). Mamata, instead of focusing on overall uplift of the minorities, is actually playing a dangerous game of fragmenting the minorities by extending facilities to selected sections.

What will an allowance for the Imam do for the uplift of an average educated middle-class Muslim person? He, or she, just like any educated middle-class Hindu, will want industrialisation in the state for generation of economic opportunities. There is no point in slamming the BJP for trying out 'communal politics'. It is being given such an opportunity.

Bureaucrats see it better and clearly

If a police officer, owing to the fact that he has seen it all from close ranks, decides to write on issues he strongly feels about, then who are these chamchas to oppose? Mamata can not accuse Islam as CPI(M)'s man either for he was known for his clashes with it also. People like Ghosh and Islam have dared to expose the so-called tamasha that is going on in Bengal today in the name of pro-people action and it is natural that the state machinery would be unleashed against them in a desperate bid to keep its artificial support base intact.

Islam's daring act could also hint at the growing dissent in the Bengal police against the maladministration of Mamata. The CM, who was once at the receiving end of the fury unleashed by the police during the days of the Left rule, has transformed it into a stooge of her own. She has defended criminals belonging to own party while discouraged honest officers from properly carrying out their job (she once allegedly got a few of her followers freed from police lock-up after they were arrested for threatening the police and reprimanded officers), the normal consequence of what has been the deteriorating law and order situation.

The culture that is being nurtured by Mamata Banerjee in Bengal is a shocking one. Even as people regard her government's action as anti-democratic, it is more threatening somewhere deep down. But who can arrest the slide when the protector itself turns draconian?

Cry of the comrades

TNN,  Aug 14, 2011, 04.00AM IST

All hell didn't break loose after the change of guard in West Bengal as the Left had predicted. The sun did shine after May 13 when the comrades found themselves relegated to a poor double-digit figure (62), and the last 10.03 pm metro from Esplanade was packed with men and women like it was the day before.

Banners changed from red to green (the Trinamool's favoured colour), indicating shakeups in the para rickshaw and bus unions. Local party offices that served as nuts and bolts to the "CM to LCM (local committee member)" command structure, running parallel with the administration, found themselves out of sync. And the men and women who ate and drank power for 34 long years in cosy collusion with the local police became targets of Trinamool Congress in select city pockets - from Jadavpur to Beliaghata, Kasba to Sealdah and Maniktala.

Even Left-dominated bodies that used to mobilise consent in favour of the government of the day, carving out ideologically-suitable policies, were suddenly under threat. Elected student representatives in some of the city colleges - Asutosh, St Paul's and Thakurpukur - were forced to resign while some of the nominees in the Left-dominated college governing bodies were unable to enter the institutions.

"The ruling Trinamool Congress occupied one local committee office and 13 branch offices in these areas," says the CPM's Kolkata district secretariat member, Kallol Majumdar. "Seven trade union offices affiliated to Citu have been locked from outside. In some places, party members were threatened and beaten up when they refused to fall in line. Local Trinamool councillors led the attack in St Paul's College, Thakurpukur College, Asutosh College, and forced the SFI union representatives to resign."

Such was the concern that the chancellor of all state universities, governor MK Narayan, in a written directive on June 14 asked varsities to refrain from making fresh selections at all levels and stop nominating people to governing bodies till further orders.

Yet there is no public outrage. People at large do not seem concerned with the much-touted assault on "democracy", a cry coming out loud from a CPM left in the opposition. A substantial number views it as just an attack on the "party-dominated mechanism" that ran roughshod over the state all these years. Worse is the scene in the villages - the traditional political minefields of Bengal - spread over Hooghly, Burdwan, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas. Then there are the three troubled districts of Jangalmahal - West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura - where CPM activists are on the run. Most of the CPM-managed panchayat offices are locked and deserted, even those in an area from where CPM strongman Anil Basu won the 2004 Lok Sabha polls with a record one lakh-plus margin.

According to CPM insiders, if things continue like this, the party will have a tough time fielding candidates in the 2013 panchayat polls. The party's North 24 Parganas leader Amitava Nandi says "supporters are staying outside their home. Their complaints to the police are not being entertained".

CPM leaders in Alimuddin Street, the party's nerve centre, are busy re-energising the party committees down to the unit level of which at least 30% has become defunct. To begin with, the party has planned a series of showdowns in front of the Legislative Assembly and Parliament in August. "We are now holding party committee meetings at various levels, organising protests at local levels. We will hit the streets after the monsoon. Prior to that the party will hold a three-day meet at Alimuddin Street beginning August 20 to identify the issues and chart out our future course," says CPM state secretariat member Gautam Deb.

But that's easier said than done. After such a long stint in power, the Bengal CPM still could not mobilise public opinion on issues like abnormal price rise - this, despite falling field prices of vegetables, even paddy. People do not take the official Left line seriously on these things anymore. "The CPM's legacy of mass movement became blunt long ago with its desperate overtures to continue in power. The party identified some of these factors in 2010 after the Left debacle in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. But we could not engage with the masses. We need to begin from scratch," a senior CPM state committee member said.

Perceptions vary over what course the strategy should now take. For instance, a minor section in Alimuddin Street still hopes to gain by targetting the Mamata Banerjee government, telling people the goodies that the Left Front government handed out. Others, however, want the party to build movements against the "anti-people policies" of the Congress-led UPA government and "expose Mamata Banerjee's double standards."

With the organised movements in factories and tea gardens becoming weak, and the Left students' movement losing its sheen, the CPM is confronted with the phenomenon of identity politics - in the Darjeeling Hills as well as the plains. "We do not expect to regain support in the Hills in the near future. At the same time, our party can't associate itself with Bengali chauvinist organisations such as Amra Bangali in Siliguri. We have to try and address the concerns of all ethnic populations and nationalities such as Nepali, Rajbanshi, Lepcha, Bhutia," says CPM state committee member and former minister Asok Bhattacharya.

Former land and land reforms minister Abdur Rezzak Molla feels that the Left movement in Bengal can't revive without broadening its fold. "The Left Front made history. But this formula won't work if we can't expand the Left family and come out of our old practice," he says. In tatters and demoralized, it will take a while before the comrades can come out of the pit they have dug themselves into.

Bengal and her crorepati ministers

Kolkata, May 26 (IANS): The coffers of the state or may not be empty but the new council of ministers in West Bengal has as many as 10 crorepatis, according to the valuation of assets is on the basis of the affidavits given by them alongside their nomination papers for the recently concluded assembly polls.

Animal Resource Development minister Nure Alam Chowdhury, a former judge, of Trinamool Congress tops the crorepati ministers’ list with assets worth over Rs. Nine crore. His annual income clubbed with that of his wife is close to Rs. 30,00,000 while their bank and other investments sum up to Rs. 1,57,000,00. Their immoveable assets including inherited properties

are valued at Rs. 7,50,000,00.

Chowdhury is followed closely by finance minister Amit Kumar Mitra also from Trinamool with assets in excess of Rs. Seven crore. The former FICCI secretary general’s annual income inclusive of his wife is close to Rs. 49,00,000. Mitras’ immoveable assets are valued at Rs. 3,83,53,322 and their moveable assets are worth Rs. 3,25,22,994.

State Inland Water transport minister and former IPS officer Hyder Aziz Safwi - again from Trinamool - is the next in the list possessing assets of over Rs. five crore. Safwi and his wife have an annual income in excess of fifteen lakh rupees while their immoveable and moveable properties are valued in excess of five crore rupees.

Trinamool’s first time lawmaker Manish Gupta who heads the Planning and Development ministry has assets over Rs. three crore. Gupta’s annual income with that of his wife is in excess of Rs. 40 lakh while their assets are worth more than three crore rupees. Gupta, a former state chief secretary, humbled his erstwhile master and then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in the assembly polls. The former IAS also possesses master degree in Military Engineering and has been on board as director in several companies.

Urban Development minister and Trinamool legislator Firhad Hakim also finds a place among the multi-millionaire ministers possessing assets over Rs. three crore. Hakim along with his wife has an annual income in excess of Rs. 36 lakh. The property including moveable and immoveable is valued over Rs. three crore.

Consumer Affairs minister from Trinamool Sadhan Pande also has enough assets to mingle with his crorepati peers. He has properties in excess of Rs. two crore while his annual income clubbed with that of his wife is over Rs. six lakh.

Pande’s assets in the last five years have grown by 82 percent. He had also contested in the 2006 assembly polls and his assets then, as per his affidavits, was one crore and 28 lakh rupees.

Breaking the Trinamool hegemony in the crorepati minister’s list is Irrigation minister Manas Bhuniya of Congress. Bhuniya’s annual income along with his wife’s is Rs. nine lakh and his properties are valued over Rs. one crore. His assets too over the past five years have grown by 61 percent. The value of his assets since 2006 has increased by Rs. 75 lakh.

New Paschimanchal Unnayan Affairs minister Sukumar Hansda of Trinamool is also a crorepati with properties in excess of Rs. one crore. He is closely followed by agricultural marketing minister Arup Roy also with properties valued at over Rs. one crore.

The last entrant in the crorepati ministers club is Sports minister Madan Mitra who also has assets over Rs. one crore.

In all there are 47 multi millionaire legislators with assets ranging between Rs. 12 crore and one crore. The richest of them all is Trinamool’s Swapan Kanti Ghosh.

In contrast to her ministerial team, chief minister Mamata Banerjee as per her 2009 Lok Sabha polls nomination details has total assets of Rs.4.73 lakhs with neither a car, nor a house. Banerjee known for her Spartan life lives in a tile-roofed house in an obscure lane in south Kolkata’s Kalighat.

Ahead of the elections, the Trinamool and its allies had time and again alleged that the state had empty coffers and was burdened with huge loans under the erstwhile Left Front regime. It now remains to be seen how the crorepati ministers and their poorer cabinet colleagues put their heads together to shore up its finances.

--Indo-Asian News Service

Purulia arms-drop accused says operation was organised to bring down Left Front

THE HINDU, April 29, 2011

 

Niels Christian Nielsen, a Danish national fighting extradition to India for his alleged role in the 1997 air-drop of ammunition over Purulia, has said the operation was sanctioned by the Central government to destabilise West Bengal's Left Front government.

In an interview to Times Now television, Mr. Nielsen claimed that the Purulia arms drop was organised as a form of defence against alleged oppression by the CPI(M) in West Bengal. The government of the former Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, he said, “saw and approved the plans to arm the defence of these innocent people.”

Central Bureau of Investigation detectives have been seeking the extradition of Mr. Nielsen, also known by the alias Kim Davy, saying he was the key figure in organising the drop of several hundred assault rifles, ammunition and explosives to help the murky Ananda Marga cult start an anti-communist insurgency.

Peter Bleach, a former British special forces officer who arranged for the purchase of the aircraft used in the operation, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2000, along with the Latvian crew. The convicts, however, all later received presidential pardon. In a separate interview to Times Now, Mr. Bleach backed elements of Mr. Nielson's case, saying “the whole objective, my understanding was, to destabilise the Government of West Bengal so that President's rule could be declared in terms of the Constitution [sic.] and the State would have been ruled directly from Delhi.”

Little is known about the 1961-born Nielsen, who is reported to be wanted in several countries on charges related to arms trafficking and money laundering. For years a member of the cult, Mr. Davy has also been linked to the South Sudan insurgent leader John Garang.

The CBI says that Mr Nielson met with Mr. Bleach at Copenhagen in August, 1995, and asked him to supply 2,500 assault rifles and 1.5 million rounds of ammunition. In September that year, the men met again in Bangkok, where the order was reduced to 500 assault rifles, as well as an aircraft for executing the drop over Purulia. Mr. Nielson succeeded in organising papers which persuaded Bulgaria to sell the weapons, which its authorities thought were intended for the Bangladesh armed forces.

Though sensational, Mr. Nielsen's claims are not new — and he has offered no new evidence in support of his claims.

In a 1995 interview to the British Broadcasting Corporation, he first asserted that the Indian government had deliberately overlooked intelligence warnings of the imminent arms-drop, hoping to precipitate an insurgency in West Bengal. “An armed insurgency in West Bengal would have allowed Delhi impose direct rule on the State and oust the ruling Communists,” the BBC reported him as saying.

Mr. Nielsen's claim that his escape was facilitated by the government was also made earlier by his organisation, the Ananda Marg. Bhaveshanand Avadhuta, a spokesperson for the group, said that it had “good reasons to believe Davy was escorted away by an Indian intelligence official called Dasan”.

But even though little evidence has emerged to support the claims, a succession of unexplained errors by Indian authorities has meant speculation about the operation has refused to go away.

Mr. Bleach, a retired special forces officer who ran an arms firm, had notified the North Yorkshire police of the planned arms drop in August 1995. He claims to have been asked to go ahead with purchasing the aircraft and continue providing information on the plot; British authorities deny this.

Later, in November, MI5, the British intelligence service, notified India that the arms drop was imminent. A London-based British government official involved with the case said at least three meetings took place to discuss events as they unfolded, though he would not share details. The West Bengal government was not immediately notified of the threat. Intelligence Bureau personnel, it later emerged, carried out reconnaissance at possible airstrips in the area, but no on-ground surveillance was mounted by the West Bengal Police.

Mr. Nielsen himself evaded arrest at the Mumbai airport, after the aircraft was finally forced to land by an Indian Air Force jet. Investigators say he bribed authorities at the airport to escape.

A senior CBI official also said Mr. Nielsen appeared to be seeking to “muddy the waters” at the final stage of extradition proceedings. “If he has anything to say”, the officer said, “we'd love to hear it — in court.”

Prime land in Kolkata leased to Bengali paper

By Romita Datta

LIVEMINT, Posted: Mon, Feb 28 2011. 1:00 AM IST

The Trinamool Congress-controlled Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has allotted two acres on lease to a Bengali newspaper, run by a trust founded by a party member, for a premium of `6.6 crore, when it may have earned 10 times that amount by auctioning the land.

The move comes months ahead of assembly elections in West Bengal, in which an alliance of Trinamool Congress and the Congress party is hoping to end the three-decades-old rule of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPM-led Left Front.

KMC has leased out the plot to Pratidin Media Trust, which runs the Sambad Pratidin newspaper, for `550,000 a cottah, or `3.3 crore an acre, and an annual lease rent of `1 a cottah. A cottah is one-sixtieth of an acre. The 33-year lease is renewable for two more terms of 33 years each.

Three years ago, the corporation had leased out to DLF Ltd a five-acre plot in the same neighbourhood for almost 10 times the lease premium: `52 lakh a cottah, or `31.2 crore an acre. DLF had secured the plot through an open auction; this time there was no contest.

Developers said the plot could have fetched a lease premium of `70-80 crore if KMC had chosen the tenant through an auction.

“Only a few years ago, LIC (Life Insurance Corp. of India Ltd) had paid over `50 crore an acre to secure from KMC a plot in the same neighbourhood,” said a real estate developer. The insurer was to build a hotel there, but is yet to start the development.

The largesse comes at a time KMC is unable to achieve its `150 crore revenue target from sale and redevelopment of properties it owns, and is dipping into bank deposits to complete projects.

The founder of Pratidin Media Trust, Swapan Sadhan Basu, is a Trinamool Congress representative in Rajya Sabha. His son and the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Srinjoy Bose, said there isn’t anything surprising in the deal. “The Left Front has in the past done similar things many times.”

Kolkata’s mayor Sovan Chatterjee when asked why the concession was made, said the trust would use the plot for “some good cause”, without elaborating.

The decision was approved by Trinamool municipal councillors after Left Front representatives “left the house protesting against another issue”, said Rupa Bagchi, a CPM councillor and leader of the opposition in the KMC.

“It was not even on agenda,” she said. “We didn’t know they would move this proposal after we staged a walkout.”

This isn’t the first time KMC has allotted land to news organizations. Former mayor and Trinamool Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee said in his term (2000-2005) he had allotted land to several newspapers irrespective of their political leanings.

“I had given land to Pratidin, too,” he said.

Govt has not done enough: Switzerland’s Ambassador

Aniek Paul, LIVEMINT, Posted: Tue, Mar 29 2011. 1:00 AM IST

Switzerland’s ambassador to India, Philippe Welti, said India has not done enough to obtain information from his country’s banks on money laundering despite the public outrage over it.

It was not “fair” to see Swiss lenders as protecting criminals by not co-operating with Indian law enforcement agencies, Welti said on Monday.

India must file “legitimate requests” with Swiss authorities for banks to release data on illegitimate money allegedly stashed away in numbered accounts, he said. “Check with your government how many requests have been filed,” Welti said. “I don’t want to say more.”

He dismissed claims made in Parliament and in petitions filed with courts that up to $1.43 trillion (`64 trillion) of black money was stashed away in Swiss banks. “The figure is unimaginable, it is a complete fantasy,” he said.

Swiss banking secrecy laws are not intended to “protect criminals” and “commercial profits” from being taxed, Welti said. But for India to gain access to data, it must file requests with some evidence in support of its claim. “We aren’t asking governments to prove the charges; we are only asking them to make the claim plausible,” he said.

Earlier Switzerland would readily share data on “tax frauds” such as money laundering. Under a treaty signed with India in August, which is to be ratified by the Swiss parliament “within weeks”, even tax evasions qualify for “data release”, according to Welti.

“But here we aren’t talking about tax evasion only, we are talking about tax frauds such as money laundering,” Welti said, undermining the Indian government’s argument that Swiss authorities weren’t willing to share data from its banks under the double-taxation treaty.

To illustrate Swiss authorities took proactive steps in seizing illegitimate money, Welti said his government had already “blocked” the assets of Hosni Mubarak, the deposed president of Egypt, “anticipating claims from successors” who form a “legitimate government”.

Under an ongoing investigation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been claiming businessmen Hasan Ali Khan and Kashinath Tapuriah have accounts in Swiss banks, and at least one of them has been blocked by the Swiss authorities because around $300 million came from the world’s most notorious arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi with a tag from the remitting US bank saying “proceeds from arms sale”.

Officials of the directorate, which investigates economic crime, have made several trips to Switzerland in the past four years and have requested Swiss authorities to release data from the bank accounts of Khan and Tapuriah.

Defending the Swiss government, Welti said it wouldn’t entertain requests filed by investigating agencies such as the ED, income-tax department and the Central Bureau of Investigation. Such requests must be routed through the government under “procedures decided in the treaty” signed in August, he said.

Swiss envoy rubbishes $1.43 tn black money claim

By Sougata Mukhopadhyay

CNN-IBN, Updated Mar 29, 2011 at 08:41am IST

Kolkata: In an exclusive interview with CNN-IBN, Swiss Ambassador Philippe Welti has rubbished India's claim that trillions of dollars are stashed away in Swiss banks.

Embarrassing the Government India, Welti has alleged that the Centre has not done enough to get information on money laundering.

The Government hasn't filed a single application in a proper manner agreed upon by the two governments in its double taxation treaty to access such data.

"All that the Indian government needs to do is to apply in a proper manner as per rules agreed upon by the two governments," said Welti.

The earlier treaty has been revised and under the new treaty the Swiss government would part with data on not only cases of tax frauds (which was agreed upon in the old treaty) but also on tax evasions.

"We have had a many years of treaty which allows the data to release on request is cases, for example tax frauds. Now the good news is that we have negotiated together with India, revision of tax treaty which allows in the future also release of data in cases of tax evasion and this is being ratified very soon it will be implemented. If you have good case sufficient evidence and you can designate the person or the bank account or can even have the cases where the bank account is good enough even you do not have the name. So things have in fact become easier," the Swiss Ambassador said.

As per rules, the Indian Government needs to have a prima facie case against the person who it suspects to have resorted to tax fraud/evasion. Even a particular bank account number would suffice in case of absence of a name.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax Department (IT) or the CBI cannot get access to information directly from any Swiss bank. The request has to come from the proper channel, that is from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to the Swiss Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Talking on the claim made by the ED, IT and the CBI that they have visited Switzerland, have requested for data and information from Swiss banks but they have failed to receive any information, Welti said, "If such agencies have tried and were unsuccessful and I was not aware of that my tentative answer that they probably tried that but that is against the bank rules. It has to go from one government to the other and the channel for the communication is the foreign ministries."

On the issue of $1.43 trillion black money figure quoted in the Indian Parliament that's supposedly stashed away in Swiss accounts, Welty said, "That figure is known to me because it has been repeated to me many times by journalists, who copy each other. The figure is pure fantasy."

Media reports on Maoist-TMC links

Annexure I

Press Document of CPI(Maoist); 7th January; published in different news media on 8th January, 2009

To wipe out CPI(M) from West Bengal, we must work together with all parties of the ruling class like, Trinamool Congress, Congress, BJP etc. The CPI(Maoist) document, headed “Some important problems and its solutions” was circulated to the members after the incidents of Shalboni and Lalgarh. We must get all ruling parties associated as long they desire to be. We call CPI(M) as a Social Fascist organization. Relations with Trinamool Congress and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee must be strengthened.

To combat such Fascist organization we must therefore associate all ruling class parties of India.

[This document was subsequently issued after the land mine explosion in CM’s meeting at Lalgarh on 2nd November, 2009.]

Ananda Bazar Patrika; 19th June, 2009

News: They won’t get out if they enter Lalgarh: Kishenji

Without camouflaging their presence in Lalgarh, Kishenji has stated that here in Lalgarh some organizations are also working along with PSBJC. He in this regard has reminded that ‘we were there in Nandigram during land movement along with Trinamool Congress. We however had separate agenda”.

The Times of India; 20th June, 2009

Things are not the same for Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee when it comes to realpolitik. Because what was fair in Nandigram, is not so for a Party, which is now a part of the Union government. So when Maoist strategist Koteswar Rao alias Kishanji urged upon Mamata to stop sending central forces against the people of Lalgarh, Banerjee dissociated her party from the “politics of individual killings”.

Aajkal; 21st October, 2009

News: Why Mamata not interested in Kishenji’s arrest?

Immediate after Kishenji asked before media why Mamata were not demanding the withdrawal of joint force at Jangal Mahal, the UPA Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee prompted the claim to suspend joint force from the entire Jangal Mahal.

Ananda Bazar Patrika; 22nd December, 2009

News: Shubhendu calls police rebellion against the state government

Byline: Surajit Singha, Bankura

Snap: Trinamool Congress MP and the President Trinamool Youth Congress Shubhendu Adhikari calls state police administration to organize rebellion against the state government.

Much turmoil had already been resurfaced when the TMC supremo and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee remained silent even after some police officials being killed and abducted by the Maoists. Now the Youth President of her Party himself calls police administration to organize an “insurgence”. He however added that the “Maoist” movement in Lalgarh is nothing but a movement of common people against exploitation.

Aajkal; 3rd January, 2010;

News: TMC leaders pleading for the release of the detained Maoist leaders

Khoirashol, Birbhum

Local Trinamool leader Ashok Mukherjee demanded the release of the detained Maoist Squad leader Kajal Pramanik and Rakhohari Das at Khoirashol Police station. Kajal Pramanik is however a confirmed resident of Nandigram.

Aajkal; 6th January, 2010;

News: CPI(M) perpetrating the poster campaigning in the name of Maoists

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee at a press conference averred that in the name of Maoists it was CPI(M) perpetrating the poster campaigning in Kolkata, Salt Lake and other urban areas. No Maoist existed however in these areas.

When asked on Home Minister P. Chidambaram Mamata stated, ‘I am not aware of them he hold meeting with’.

Manoj Verma, Police Superintendent, West Midnapore; 9th January, 2010

Press Conference

Police had restored more than 120 landmine, ammunitions, 61 firearms, more than 500 rounds cartridges in today’s operation in Jangal Mahal. Being informed from secret sources police raided the residence of local Trinamool Congress and PSBJC leader Keshab Mahato at Boita in Lalgarh block.

Ananda Bazar Patrika; 10th January, 2010

News: Mamata slams Prime Minister; Mamata against Maoists

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee while slamming the Prime Minister sharply criticized his visit to ailing Jyoti Basu along with the CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee straightway from the Airport. She even slammed the Prime Minister for making photo-shoot with the Chief Minister.

Mamata however had recognized the existence of Maoists in Jangal Mahal.

Ananda Bazar Patrika; 10th January, 2010

News: Mamata voltefacing; Kishenji

Maoist leader Kishenji in a statement issued to the press particularly after Mamata Banerjee’s press conference alleged, ‘the Railway Minister is taking opportunist stance as and when required.

Kishenji on Mamata’s punch that CPIM and CPI(Maoist) are all same, slandered that ‘for last few days Mamata had been playing this broken record which the people of Jangal Mahal are spitting on.’

Kishenji in this regard held Mamata Banerjee responsible for organizing Joint Armed Operation in Jangal Mahal. He sated that being an ally in the Union Cabinet, how could Mamata be away from the responsibility of such an order?

Aajkal; 25th January, 2010

News: Kishenji invites Mamata: Come without Police

“I would not ask you about what happened in Chhoto Angaria; you knew very well; you people have too many arms, weapons and your ‘own’ TMC Harmads, what we even do not possess. If you want to talk to us, please come without Police”, averred Kishenji in an open letter to Mamata Banerjee.

The Times of India; 5th March, 2010

Venkateswar Rao alias Telegu Deepak has confirmed that his men not the CPM gunned down senior Trinamool Congress leader Nishikanta Mondal in Nandigram because he “betrayed them”. Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee had all along accused CPM of killing, though Kishenji claimed responsibility for the murder. Deepak’s statement indicates that no matter how close one is to the Maoists, their friendship comes at a price.”

The Times of India; 6th March, 2010

Kishenji had gone to Nandigram using the alias of Sukumar, his close aide Venkateswar Reddy alias Deepak has told to CID officers interrogating him. DGP Bhupinder Singh confirmed this on Friday, an information Kishenji had himself told TOI in an earlier interview.

Aajkal; 4th April, 2010

News: Mine explosion in Lalgarh just before P. Chidambaram starts the visit

Maoists had perpetrated two successive explosions in Lalgarh just before P Chidambaram starts his visit to Lalgarh. Meanwhile the cabinet ally Trinamool Congress participated in a rally overtly along with Maoist platform PSBJC claiming withdrawal of the Joint Force. Local Trinamool leaders like Raju Mahato, Asit Mahato, Tarun Mahato, Krishna Mahato, Kartick Mahato etc. were seen leading the rally.

Manoj Verma, the District Police Super, while addressing the press stated that Joint force had achieved a substantial progress for last three days before Chidambaram’s visit when they restored huge arms and ammunitions from Bhalukbasha forest and adjacent areas. They arrested three Maoist insurgents, Lakshmi Mahato, Bablu Murmu, Sitaram Murmu who were engaged in killing CPI(M) workers and supporters.

Aajkal; 7th April, 2010

TMC and Postcolonialist intellectuals after Shilda, Dantewada Massacre

Snap: In a written document placed before the press signed by the TMC, MP Kabir Suman along with Mahasweta Devi, Tarun Sanyal, Kaushik Sen, Sujato Bhadra, Samir Aich, Sunanda Sanyal, Bratya Basu, it was clearly stated that the Police operation against the Maoists should immediately be withdrawn. We support the continuous movement against the joint operation to usher the real change in the state.

Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai stated aptly that “intellectuals supporting Maoists criticize police all the time but never utter a single word against Maoist atrocities”.

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee after Shilda Massacre fabricated the whole incident as CPI(M) atrocity. Maoists according to Mamata did not have existence at all.

Aajkal; 15th April, 2010

News: No Maoist in Jangal Mahal

Reproaching the Home Minister P.Chidambaram as ‘Chidambaram babu’ Mamata Banerjee averred again that ‘there is no Maoist in Jangal Mahal’. Refuting even Prime Minister’s order for the allies not to make any statement on Maoists, Mamata Banerjee stated that she would continue with the notion that ‘there is no Maoist in Jangal Mahal’.

Aajkal; 16th April, 2010

News: Semi-Maoist Minister should clarify the actual stance in the Parliament: Arun Jaitley

BJP leader in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley has alleged that a minister of UPA government denies Maoist presence in West Bengal openly, whereas the government continues Joint Armed Operation in that area. The minister should be called upon to clarify everything. He alleged that the Home Minister on the one side recommends the need for joint armed operation but another minister of the same cabinet recommends the Maoist violence. Such a minister is indeed Semi-Maoist.

Ananda Bazar Patrika; 23rd June, 2010

News: Railway relieved from Maoist Bandh: Kishenji

Maoists for the first time relieved the Railway from the Bandh.

After Bapi Mahato being arrested after Jnaneswari massacre, it is somewhere clear that the Maoists are behind the whole massacre…after Jnaneswari incident Kishenji denied Maoist hand behind the massacre; Pro-Mamata intellectuals proclaimed that Maoists were not responsible for the massacre, it was CPI(M) responsible. Maoists also reiterated the same argument soon after those intellectuals…but this had affected public support for the Maoists…As a consequence Maoists decided to relieve Railway from the Bandh to satisfy the Railway Minister…as she was also vocal to them to keep the Railway away from any insurgency activity.

Ananda Bazar Patrika; 22nd July, 2010

News: Mamata to meet PM to suspend Joint Operation

Byline: Roshni Mukhopadhyay

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee decides to meet the Prime Minister to place her demand to suspend the joint operation from entire Jangal Mahal…Political intelligentsia accord that this is not a reiteration of her earlier such announcements…It was the consequence of top Maoist leader Kishenji’s assertion that Mamata talking in favour of ‘Joint Force’, not trying to stop the operation. Pro-Change intellectuals also earlier requested her to stop the joint operation that finally had influenced her to initiate such decision.

But Mamata’s demand, despite her earlier dissent to the joint operation, to deploy central army also dissatisfied many pro-change intellectuals who remained always against any form of operation in Jangal Mahal.

Pratidin; 23rd July, 2010

News: Maoist-TMC alliance baseless: Chidambaram

“I have no evidence to prove TMC-Maoist alliance in West Bengal or they work hand in hand. But a section of Maoists might have common opinion with the Trinamool Congress during Singur movement”.

 

Ananda Bazar Patrika; 27th July, 2010

News: No Congress; Mamata only welcome to Lalgarh: Maoists

Maoists would allow Mamata in Lalgarh under certain conditions; but no to any Congress leader. Maoist leader Akash stated that people of Lalgarh would give ‘garland of shoes’ to Manas Bhuiyan or any other Congress leader…Maoists appeared soft to Mamata as she had announced earlier to request PM to withdraw the joint force…Akash reiterated that Mamata in her meeting at Jangal Mahal would say something against Joint Force.

Dainik Statesman; 2nd August, 2010

News: PCPA not to intercept Mamata’s meeting

PSBJC secretary Manoj Mahato taking on press and media reiterated that PSBJC would not create any interception in Mamata’s meeting in Jangal Mahal. They would rather be interested to know her stance on Joint Armed Operation, Harmad force etc.

The Times of India; 2nd August, 2010

Mamata Banerjee is going to Lalgarh where her party has a minimal presence. The reason is apparent. When Maoists target the CPM cadre, Trinamool Congress sees it as an opportunity to make the gains in this part of Bengal before the Assembly elections. The Trinamool Chief, the first ally of the Congress-led UPA government, has demanded withdrawal of security forces from the area because she refuses to see a Maoist hand in the bloodbath. Right activists such as Medha Patkar are also planning a stir against the recent killings of the mass leaders by Police in the forests.

Aajkal; 5th August, 2010

News: 6 TMC workers detained for Maoist insurgency acitivities

Byline: Alok Sen, Bankura

6 Trinamool Congress workers arrested for blowing up a bus and an ambassador in Khatra, Purulia were produced at Khatra Court which remanded them a ‘14-day’ jail custody. Demanding their release however, local Trinamool Congress organized a day long agitation programme at the jail periphery. The six detainees were TMC Booth president Somnath Duley, Janardan Sen, Uttam Chatterjee, Madhu Chatterjee, Arun Duley. With this progress the relation of TMC leaders with Maoist insurgencies had been established. Subrata Misra, the TMC Block President, claimed all 6 detainees as their active workers.

Ananda Bazar Patrika; 12th August, 2010

News: Mamata to comment on Azad controversy in the Parliament

Maoists however had taken Mamata’s comment on Azad as a manifestation of truth. Kishenji slamming Lefts and BJP averred, “They should up their voice against the price rise instead of the Lalgarh Meeting”. Welcoming Mamata’s proposal Kishenji averred, “We still want to have a talk with the government. We welcome Mamata if she takes the initiative. But the government must stop violence before every such development”.

 

PTI; 12th August, 2010

News: Chidambaram refutes Mamata’s demand

Home Minister P. Chidambaram refutes Mamata’s demand for Maoist leader Azad’s death probing. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded Azad’s death probing in the Lalgarh meeting on Monday.

Ananda Bazar Patrika; 13th August, 2010

News: Maoist message to talk to Railway Minister

Maoists in a message to media demanded direct meeting with the Railway Minister. In another message to Swami Agnibesh, Maoists demanded initiation of dialogue with the centre. There was however some necessary preconditions like judicial enquiry of the death of CPI(Maoist) Polit Bureau member Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad.

Aajkal; 19th October, 2010

News: Maoist open letter on Trinamool Corruption

In an open letter to the Trinamool leaders and workers Maoists requested Mamata Banerjee to resign from the central government. Maoist leader Bikram in that very letter stated some problems regarding Maoist struggle to end the left front government. These were:

• Unlimited corruption and partisanship in all Gram Panchayat, Municipalities, Zila Parishads, School managing committees, cooperatives governed by TMC.

• There are many such persons originally soft to CPM have already placed high in Trinamool Congress.

• TMC leadership talking in favour of the owner of a Jhalda factory.

• Railway Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee is working for the people of Jangal Mahal. She only announces new trains for Kolkata people.

Aajkal; 26th October, 2010

News: Mukul Ray visits dead PSBJC leaders home

To offer condolence Mukul Ray visited the residence of Biswanath Mahato and Pradip Mahato, the two dead PSBJC leaders. This visit has been highly criticized by both the Left Front as well as the Congress leaders. The minister clarified his visit as he stated that these leaders were in favour of change and thus were killed by the ‘harmads’ belonging to CPIM. However, these two leaders were alleged of having a link with the Maoists.

Ananda Bazar Patrika; 26th October, 2010

News: Mukul Ray’s visit faces criticism

Mukul Ray faced strong criticism after his much talked about visit to Bishwanath Mahato and Pradip Mahato’s residence. After the Gnaneshwari incident, Union Home minister P.Chidambaram himself had alleged the PSBJC as a part of the Maoist committee. Thus the open visit of a minister to both the PSBJC leader’s home ignited new controversy.

Aajkal; 10th November, 2010

News: Maoist leader detained from TMC leaders car

Maoist leader Kanchan Deb Singh was arrested from Trinamool Block President Nepal Singh’s car in Shalbani. Police stopped the car for checking and recognized Kanchan inside the car. Nepal Singh as well as Kanchan was taken to the police station though the Block President was released within no time. Kanchan was associated with the PSBJC arms training in 2008. He was charged with various landmine blasts, looting of police van etc.

Aajkal; 10th November, 2010

News: Maoist leader accepts his involvement in Singur-case

Maoist leader Ajay Das accepted his direct involvement with the Singur case to the CBI when interrogated. Das has been associated with the Maoist committee for more than ten years. A 9mm pistol as well as a fire arm was also discovered from him. He is also a member of Burdwan-Nadia-Murshbad zonal committee. It is being investigated how a team was sent from Singur to rob the residence of a Bijpur based businessman.

The Telegraph; 25th November, 2010

News: Maoist Help in Fightback

Byline: Pronab Mondal

Maoists helped the Trinamool Congress foil the CPM’s attempt to “recapture” Khejuri today, intelligence branch officials believe.

The Police Officials said the Maoists had “struck a deal” with Trinamool Congress in Nandigram after being forced on the back foot in Lalgarh.

The Telegraph; 27th November, 2010

News: Maoists say they are with Trinamool

Khejuri residents today said several “unknown faces” had joined Trinamool Congress activists to guard the area and keep watch on a CPM shelter, prompting Maoists to claim the strangers as their own.

According to Swapan Das, a grocer, the outsiders take up “strategic positions” in and around Khejuri after 10pm to keep guard. “Although I am a Trinamool supporter, I have not been able to identify these young people.” Das said, “I don’t know who are they and where they have come from.

Dainik Statesman; 27th November, 2010, P-1

News: Shubhendu Adhikari’s meeting at Jhargram

Byline: Asok Kumar Mondal

Snap: “PSBJC is not a banned organization; they can indeed organize rally, meeting anywhere. PSBJC is not at all a Maoist organization. Let Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee have that power to ban PSBJC”, averred Shubhendu Adhikari.

Times of India; 21st December, 2010, P-3

News: Body Politics in Heart of City

Byline: Times News Network

Snap: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee paid wreath tribute to Sanatan Hembram, the PCPA activist, as accorded by the District Police Authority, at Trinamool Congress Bhavan on 20th December, 2010. Earlier the dead body was hacked from far away Lalgarh to take around the city.

In this regard, Chunibala Hansda, MLA and Chief of Jharkhand Party (Naren) significantly averred, “He was earlier with our party; though I am not aware of his present stance but he never signed for Trinamool Congress. How could they initiate such programmes?”

Subrata Mahato, neighbour of Sanatan Hembram however alleged that PSBJC once led by Sanatan Hembram ransacked his residence for not giving five thousand rupees to PSBJC fund. District Police Officials however held Sanatan Hembram as a confirmed worker of PSBJC, had earlier taken armed training in different Maoists camps of Jangal Mahal.