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Mamata vows revenge for Keshpur killings

Rifat Jawaid in Keshpur, Midnapore

The Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday vowed to avenge the death of its party workers killed in clashes with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Keshpur on Saturday.

Over nine men belonging to both - the Trinamul Congress and the CPI-M - were killed in bloody clashes in Keshpur, West Bengal. Both parties have claimed that the toll was likely to rise as many of their men are missing.

Speaking to rediff.com, a visibly enraged Mamata said she would camp in the disturbed area from Wednesday "primarily to see that the CPI-M arsonists got a befitting reply."

Six bodies of Trinamul activists, who fell victims to the Saturday's violence, were brought to Soroi, 2 km west of Keshpur, on Monday.

The bodies were received by over 5,000 people who had gathered from neighbouring villages.

"My party has lost over 50 supporters ever since the Election Commission decided to hold by-election in Panskura about a month back. In past one year, more than 300 Trinamul workers have succumbed to the combined brutalities of the CPI-M cadres and the local police," Mamata told rediff.com.

She said that she was greatly disturbed by the fact that five of her men killed were Muslims.

CPI-M local leaders, meanwhile, have blamed Mamata for the current spate of killing in Keshpur. They alleged that Mamata's inflammatory speeches here last week had fuelled the tension.

"Mamata had asked her party workers to chop off the hands and feet of CPI-M workers. A day after she left Keshpur, her supporters went on a rampage burning houses of thousands of our workers in Gopinathbati village and looting property worth lakhs of rupees," said Ajit Jana, a CPI-M worker and resident of Keshpur.

He said what the CPI-M workers did on Saturday was primarily to save their near and dear ones from the wrath of Trinamul activists, he said.

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