A Trinamul Congress leader, Nishkanta Mandol, was killed by the Maoists in 2009 after he failed to return arms and show accounts for spending Rs 13 lakhs that the Maoists had given him to spend for the Nandigram movement. This has recently been revealed during an investigation by the West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department, (CID).
Investigations also revealed that there was a tacit understanding between the TMC and Maoists with the former providing the insurgents logistic support. The Criminal Investigation Department probe into the Maoist movement is now revealing that the Maoists entered Bengal with “full Trinamul support.”
Telegu Dipak, a state committee member of the CPI(Maoist) party, who was recently arrested by the CID, was intially provided shelter by local TMC leader, Khokan Seeth in 2007, CID official claimed.
An explosive expert, Dipak, lived in Nandigram between March 2007 and November 2007 with the name of Gaurango. Sources revealed that Gaurango, who was seldom seen outside Seeth’s residence, used to prepare Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in his house. Khokan’s younger brother Moni Seeth later joined the the CPI(Maoist) party.
The CPI(Maoist) Nandigram zonal committee secretary Madhusudan Mandal alias Narayan, who has recently been arrested by the state CID, reportedly told the sleuths that it was just before the second phase of the Nandigram movement (in March 2007) that the Maoists started filtering into Nandigram.
Narayan told the investigators that, “the political parties like the TMC, Congress and SUCI took our help to serve their own purpose. We were fighting thecommon enemy at that juncture.”
Dipak has also divulged that the Maoists used to impart training to the local villagers at Gangra and Jelligham.
“Arms used to come from Orissa. From Orissa, the arms were smuggled into Nandigram through Contai and Bajkul,” the accused told the CID sleuths.
Narayan, on the other hand, told the police that Maoists and the TMC leader Shubhendu Adhikary, had spearheaded the Nandigram movement. “We had participated in a number of rallies that were organised by the TMC and was presided over by Shubhendu Adhikary,” Narayan told during the course of interrogation. However, it was claimed that Shubehndu Adhikari “never gave direct instructions to the Maoists, but operated through his men.
When contacted, Mr Adhikar refuted the charges claiming that they were “baseless.”