Arrest in Nandigram

The Telegraph

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071118/asp/bengal/story_8562011.asp

‘Hooded hunter’ in net, rape cry rings again

A STAFF REPORTER

Anup after his arrest. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha Nandigram, Nov. 17: The CRPF today caught a 29-year-old suspect in the alleged rape of a Satengabari resident and her two daughters as another woman accused CPM workers of raping her. Anup Karan alias Bachchu, believed to be one of the CPM’s hooded hunters, was handed over to Nandigram police after CRPF jawans caught him “moving suspiciously” outside a relief camp of the Bhoomi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee. The jawans — on duty at Nandigram Bazaar, yards from the police station — swooped on Anup around 10.15 this morning as he was circling the relief camp in a new motorbike that had no registration number — a trademark of the hooded hunters. Anup tried to speed off. The jawans gave chase and grabbed him as he struggled to wriggle through the morning market crowd. When Anup failed to produce the bike’s papers, the jawans took him to the police station. A relative of the rape victim later came to the police station and identified Anup. The police will meet the woman, lying in a Tamluk hospital, on Sunday and ask her if she can identify him from his photograph. She and her daughters were allegedly raped on Monday. Anup’s arrest came hours before a housewife from Garupara turned up at the Nandigram School relief camp, where her husband has been staying, and alleged that she was gangraped by CPM workers twice, on Wednesday and Thursday. She was alone at home. Her three sons and two daughters are staying with relatives. Dressed in a crumpled yellow saree, the woman broke down when she saw her husband at the camp. She alleged that three CPM workers had barged into her house on Wednesday and raped her. The next day, four others attacked her. Fearing that she was being watched, she did not dare go out of her house the next day. “Today, I took some grains, and on the pretext of getting it chaffed, sneaked out. I took a trekker and somehow reached my husband, who has been in the camp since Sunday,” the woman said. The couple do not want to return home now. The police have lodged a case and sent the woman for medical tests. The Statesman http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=6&theme=&usrsess=1&id=176856 CPM activist arrested in Nandigram Statesman News Service KOLKATA, Nov. 17: Within just five days of the start of its operation in Nandigram, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) today arrested a CPI-M activist, who district police officers were looking for the last six months, in connection with three cases of rioting and arson in Nandigram. The CPI-M activist, Anup Karan alias Bachhu, a resident of Jambari near Satengabari village in Nandigram, was allegedly threatening some Bhumi Ucched Protirodh Committee (BUPC) supporters in front of the relief camp where more than 4,000 people have taken refuge. “Anup was involved in three cases of rioting. He was handed over to the local police. He was threatening some refugees in front of the relief camp,” said Mr Alok Raj, deputy inspector general of police, CRPF. In response to complaints made by BUPC members that CPI-M cadres are terrorising people in several villages, CRPF jawans have intensified vigil at remote villages of the trouble-torn Nandigram I and Nandigram II blocks, said the officer. The BUPC and Trinamul Congress have alleged that CPI-M cadres are taking out motorcycle rallies in villages to frighten the local people. The motorcycles being used by the CPI-M cadres don't have number plates. “We have intercepted a few youths who were riding motorcycles without number plates in the last few days. They have also been handed over to the police. This is being done on the basis of complaints of BUPC and Trinamul Congress,” Mr Raj said. The district police have initiated a probe into the recovery of a huge cache of arms, ammunition and explosives from an abandoned house at Sonachura on 15 November. The police have also launched a hunt for those who had allegedly helped Maoists to set up camps at Nandigram to train local youths. “An investigating officer has been appointed to probe the incident,” Mr Prasun Banerjee, additional superintendent of police (Haldia) said. He refused to comment when asked if police would interrogate some BUPC members in connection with the case. The CPI-M alleged that Maoists had spread a terror module in Nandigram with tacit support from BUPC. Sheikh Sufiyan, a senior BUPC member said CPI-M cadres have snatched mobile phones from some people who mustered the courage to return home despite persistent threats. He further alleged the phones were snatched to prevent them from communicating with the BUPC members staying in the relief camp.