Kolkata: Chief minister said that Maoists were inciting villagers of Bhangar in South 24 Parganas to protest. She said on Monday that the Maoists were extorting money from foreign countries by using photographs of people’s movement in Bhangar. The area witnessed protests over a power grid project in recent times compelling the Mamata Banerjee government to stall work.
“They are getting funds from Venezuela by showcasing your land agitation. They will flee after some days, but your lives will be doomed. Don’t allow them to create trouble in Bhangar. Remember they had murdered 400 to 500 people in Junglemahal,” Ms Banerjee said.
The police had submitted a report to the state government, accusing Maoists and a group of around 40 Jadavpur University students of turning the peaceful agitation violent outburst. Ms Banerjee, who had spearheaded the land movements at Singur in 2006 and Nandigram in 2007 as an Opposition leader criticised the Bhangor movement and said, “In Nandigram, there was an effort to capture the villages in the name of chemical hub. But in Bhangor, the villagers are being cheated and their future is being doomed. I cannot allow this to happen.”
She flayed a section of real estate developers for duping innocent villagers in Bhangar into selling off their land at a low price.
“Some promoters and developers want to acquire the farmlands at a low price and construct multi-storey apartments. These promoting companies are trying to cheat farmers and grab their land,” she said.
She added that some outsiders had brought arms and bombs and they had stockpiled them in the villages. “If you don’t surrender arms to the police, we will recover them either today or tomorrow. We will recover the bombs as well. Who will guarantee that the villagers will not be killed by the arms?” she questioned, requesting villagers not to provide any kind of support or shelter to the “outsiders”.
She urged the villagers to come forward with their grievances. “If you have any grievances against political leaders in Bhangar including those of the TMC , please let me know. My officers will convey the details. I am ready to communicate with the villagers but not with any outsider,” she said.
