Fresh violence broke out in troubled Nandigram in West Bengal on Sunday as Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) supporters and  Trinamool Congress-backed group clashed while taking out separate processions.
Police used batons to disperse the clashing mobs, East Midnapore Superintendent of Police G Srinivas said.
Both the CPM and the Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC), which opposes government takeover of farmland for industry, had taken out processions when the fighting occurred.
Celebration
The CPM supporters were celebrating the party’s win in the Haldia municipal elections while BUPC wanted to surround the Nandigram police station. Reports from Nandigram said 26 people who were injured were admitted to hospital. Srinivas, however, said only five people had sustained injuries and one bomb was hurled.
He said there were no reports of firing.
“The situation is now under control,” Srinivas said as tension gripped the area.
Peaceful procession
BUPC leader Abdus Samad said the CPM procession had ended peacefully.
But when BUPC began marching, CPM workers hurled bombs at them. CPM leader Ashok Guria, however, alleged that BUPC men attacked their party office, triggering the clash.
The BUPC has now called a 12-hour Nandigram shutdown on Monday to protest against the latest violence.
It said CPM men fired from Khejuri, a stronghold of the party and where most CPM supporters of Nandigram are now sheltered in camps. “We will surround the Nandigram police station on August 1 to protest the firing,” said Samad.