Mamata injured in stone-pelting

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee was on Thursday admitted to the Nandigram hospital after being allegedly hit by a stone on her arrival at the East Midnapore district, where 14 people were killed in police firing on Wednesday.

Anuradha Putatunda, a Trinamool Congress leader who was accompanying Banerjee, alleged that Trinamool chief's convoy was repeatedly blocked and attacked by Communist Party of India-Marxist supporters en route to Nandigram and that she was hit by a stone.

Banerjee, whose party is spearheading the agitation against acquisition of farmland for a proposed SEZ by the Left Front government, entered Nandigram in a procession with members of the Krishi Jami Raksha Committee.

She said industry and agriculture were two different things and one should not be sacrificed for the other, while accusing Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee of creating 'unrest' in the area in the name of industrialisation.

She alleged that agricultural land was being taken away from farmers without proper compensation being given to them.

The police, who had not entered Nandigram since violence in early January left six dead, made a fresh bid to enter on Wednesday and were faced with fierce resistance from the Krishi Jami Raksha Committee. In the firing that followed, 14 people were killed and 75 injured. The villagers had dug up roads and damaged bridges to prevent police from entering Nandigram, which has witnessed recurring clashes between CPI-M and Committee members since January.

Banerjee was recently discharged from a private nursing home where she was treated for nearly a month after her 25-day fast in December to protest the acquisition of 1,000 acres of land at Singur in Hoogly district for the Tata Motors' small car project.