Nandigram: NHRC team record victims' statements

A six-member National Human Rights Commission team on Friday recorded the statements of several villagers in Nandigram who were rendered homeless during the recent recapture of its control by Communist Party of India-Marxist cadres from rival Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee activists.

"We are recording the statements of the affected people who are staying at a relief camp in a school in Nandigram," special superintendent of Police S P Singh, leading the team of NHRC said.

Asked whether they had arrived at any preliminary conclusion, another team-member and SSP Mamta Singh said, "It's too early to say anything. We've to talk to all concerned and see for ourselves the affected areas before coming to any conclusion."

Four representatives of the six-member NHRC team spent a considerable time at the relief camp in the Brajamohan Tiwari Shikshaniketan. They will submit a report to the NHRC chairman in Delhi after completing the inquiry.

The remaining two members are in Haldia. Soon after their arrival from Delhi on Thursday, the NHRC team met the superintendent of police S Panda and district magistrate Anup Agarwal of East Midnapore district to know the views of the administration on the recent events in Nandigram, which has been rocked by violence for the last 11 months.

The NHRC team is ascertaining whether there has been any lapse on the part of the local police and authorities and would collect information, particularly on cases relating to killing and molestation of women.