Two incidents at the fag end of campaigning cast their shadow over the civic polls— Gorkha League president Madan Tamang's murder in broad daylight and the disastrous accident of the Gyaneshwari Express at Sardiha near Jhargram, which claimed 150 lives and seriously injured another 150 passengers. Madan Tamang was killed on May 22 while the train accident happened at the wee hours of May 28, couple of hours before campaigning was to end. While none of these incidents directly bear any relation to the polls, one can hardly deny its effect.
While the state police’s CID is busy probing both the cases, strong demands are there for CBI probe which the state government is totally against. The attitude of the ruling party and circumstantial evidences are raising several questions. Some people, including Union minister Shisir Adhikari, are pointing fingers at the ruling CPI(M).
Madan Tamang was supposed to hold a rally at Darjeeling on May 22 which was being opposed by Bimal Gurung and his Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. The police, which had earlier denied him permission for the same, not only gave permission but also took him to the spot under full police protection in an unscheduled trip a day before the rally. As Tamang’s visit was unscheduled, his partymen were also not there. All of a sudden, hundreds of Gorkhas, armed with daggers and swords, rushed towards him and left him lying in a pool of blood with several stab injuries. One-and-a half dozen police, who were there to protect him, just vanished during the killing and came back as soon as the killers disappeared. Tamang’s bodyguard tried to prevent and fired a round from his service revolver and he was also injured by the attackers.
Despite every section demanding a CBI probe, including the GJM Chief Bimal Gurung and wife of the slain leader, the state decided on a CID investigation. Now, why did the police personnel not fire a single shot or lob teargas to prevent the attackers? Why Tamang was not whisked away while attackers were rushing in? How did the attackers get Tamang’s unscheduled visit info when even his partymen were not aware? Why did the police name the GJM president and secretary in the FIR when they were not present in the Hills on that day? Interestingly, the state CPI(M) secretary had cautioned the state of ‘major bloodshed before civic polls’. That happened in the form of the train incident. Soon after the incident, the surviving driver of the goods train, Nirbhay Kumar, had seen four persons with torches. “They were speaking in Bengali. They said, 'Not much has happened' and met another three persons nearby and then left,” he said. State minister Sushanta Ghosh, infamous for the Chhoto Angaria massacre, reached the spot by early morning along with his partymen. Soon, the Maoist linkage theory spread. The railway minister also spoke of a blast under the railway tracks which turned unfounded. About 17 inch of a railway track was cut away which caused the derailment. As the area falls under the Joint Action Force's operations, was it convenient to blame the Maoists? The CPI(M) also linked the People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) to the act.
But, the Maoist modus operandi appears to negate their linkage. They use firearms or explosives, none of which has been used here. It is also a fact that Maoists have always admitted to their actions and killings. In this case, spokesman of the Maoists Akash not only strongly denied their involvement over the phone but blamed the CPI(M) for this. Akash even said, “We admit to even mistaken killings like the bus incident in Dantewada. We are against attacking public vehicles.” People in the local villages are afraid of speaking to journalists as they say, “Armed CPM goons lurk in every corner of our village.”
Thirteen out of 15 villages surrounding the accident spot within a three-km radius are fully dominated by CPI(M). By dominated one means the presence of more than a dozen camps of armed CPM cadres, usually referred to as 'harmad'. These villages are Manikpara, Bojudih, Daldali, Ghagrashol, Putushol, Bahragora, Joipur, Amdiha, Burishol, Dudhkundi, Sardiha, Bhangabandh, Rajbandh, Jhatibandh. Confirming total absence of Maoists in those villages for more than 6 months, one villager said, “No Maoist has the courage to enter these villages till the heavily armed cadres are here.” Sources say more than 150 sophisticated automatic firearms, including AK-56s, are with CPM cadres.
A PCPA spokesperson said the same. In fact, the PCPA has demanded a CBI probe while the Maoists want a probe by a committee consisting of eminent personalities from different walks of life as they do not trust the Union government too. Villagers of Khemashuli, Guptamoni, Sardiha have different clues to share. They said after the incident, the miscreants reached Manikpara in a small car. According to them, a secret meeting was held at CPM leader Arjun Mahato’s house at Putushol village a night earlier. Reportedly, Anuj Pandey of Lalgarh, whose palatial house was demolished by people in presence of Maoist leader Bikas on June 15 2009, was present at the meeting. Pandey is a close associate of Sushanta Ghosh, whose younger brother is reportedly involved in Chhoto Angaria and Nandigram-Khejuri killings. A top leader from Kolkata has reportedly contacted them at around 3 am that night. The incident happened nearly 22 hours after that meeting.
Questions are also being raised as to why the chief minister rushed to the spot even cancelling his scheduled Meet the Press. After all, he did not visit Shilda where dozens of EFR Jawans were killed by the Maoists or Stephen Court at Park Street where a raging fire fire gutted the building killing over 35 people. Now, one Bapi Mahato’s name has surfaced in a English daily who has reportedly admitted to his role in the train incident and has claimed himself as a PCPA supporter. Interestingly, Bapi himself denied he said anything like this. Two more names also doing the round are Umakanta Mahato and Dhanapati Mahto. Interestingly, all these three youths were earlier booked by the Joint Action Force and Police under UAPA. They were organising protest against sponge iron factories and were not Maoist supporters. The police failed to produce chargesheet against them in the court and they were released. Now, they are being targeted afresh.
So, the questions raised by several quarters, including eminent intellectuals like Sunanda Sanyal, Subhaprasanna, Shaonli Mitra, Bratya Basu and others, have some prima facie credentials. A CID probe will not look into these questions as the state administration will not be interested in it.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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