CPI-M claims recent CBI chargesheet on Nandigram vindicates its stand

Kolkata: The CPI-M Wednesday claimed that the recent chargesheet filed by the CBI has vindicated its stand that the developments leading to the Nandigram firing, seven years back, were a "conspiracy" against the then Left Front regime.

Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Surjya Kanta Mishra charged West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress of "double standards" as it refused permission to the CBI to prosecute six police officers involved in the firing while demanding interrogation of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee -- the then chief minister.

Representational image. Ibnlive

"The chargesheet is a proof that the accusation that Bhattacharjee had ordered the police firing is baseless," Mishra, leader of opposition in the state assembly, told media persons here.

He said the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation mentions that only eight persons were killed in police firing.

"According to the chargesheet, six others died of injuries sustained from sharp cutting weapons which police do not possess. It was with the miscreants who had assembled at the spot on that day (March 14, 2007)," Mishra said.

Fourteen people died when police tried to enter Midnapore district's Nandigram.

He said the police tried to enter the area to re-establish the rule of law and mend a bridge that was demolished by the agitators at the behest of the Trinamool Congress, the Maoists and other such forces to cut off the area from other parts of the state.

"The gathering was illegal and with ill motive. The standard operating procedure was followed during the firing," he said.

"The chargesheet submitted after so many years vindicates our stand that a conspiracy had been hatched against the Left Front government," Mishra said.

"The campaign after March 14, 2007 was aimed at maligning our government," he said.

Accusing the state government of "double standards", Mishra said the Trinamool government did not give permission to the CBI to prosecute six police officers involved in firing and sought investigation into Bhattacharjee's role into the incident.

"In fact, these officers as also the executive magistrate who ordered the firing now occupy responsible positions in the state government," he added.

IANS