Bengal CM fires another salvo at Chidambaram

In a letter to Home Minister P Chidambaram, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee cited the arrest of two persons from a Trinamool Congress-run camp in Midnapore who allegedly had Maoist links.

"The chief minister sent a letter to the Union home minister on the arrest of two persons on Monday with Maoist links," said sources.

The copy of the letter was not made available to the media. Asked why the chief minister took three days to write the letter, sources said he had waited for evidence of the Trinamool's Maoist connection.

Describing the incident as 'extremely dangerous', Bhattacharjee had stated on Monday that the inmates of the municipality-run camp had obstructed the police on January 31 during the arrest of the two men who had been provided shelter there. The chief minister had also said he would shortly inform the home minister about the incident and added, "I would like to remind Mr Chidambaram about his responsibility in the matter."

"In my last meeting with Chidambaram in Delhi, I referred to the Trinamool-Maoist link. I would again remind him about this continuing relationship between Trinamool and Maoists," the chief minister had said.

Bhattacharjee had warned Trinamool at a public meeting on Tuesday that action would be taken on the basis of evidence of the opposition party's link with the left-wing ultras.