Author: Tanmay Chatterjee in Kolkata
Publication: The Stateman
Date: October 24, 2003
Bengal's history in radical politics
seems to be repeating itself after 30 years. It's just that the order of
things have got reversed. The police and intelligence community are concerned
by the role of a section of so-called disgruntled CPI-M cadres and leaders
"at the grassroots level" in establishing militant organisations in the
North and South Bengal.
Two weeks ago, Central intelligence
officials sent a report to the Home ministry in Delhi stating how the hit
squads of Kamtapur Liberation Organisation in North Bengal and Naxalite
groups in south Bengal have been able to establish their network with the
help of this section of people. The matter first came to light in North
Bengal following the recent arrest of two Ulfa members, a senior state
police official said. During interrogation, they reportedly revealed that
they were maintaining their network in Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri with
the help of a few local CPI-M leaders and their supporters. They also alleged
that some CPI-M workers had played a role in the abduction of a businessman
in Nishigunj.
"A CPI-M branch secretary and nine
others were arrested. Though the party's local leadership expelled them
immediately, it didn't solve the problem for us. Police realised that CPI-M
controlled villages and towns could no longer be considered 'safe' from
the administrative point of view," said an officer.
Similarly in Purulia and Midnapore,
the MCC and PW have been getting support from a section of local CPI-M
workers, the intelligence report states. Several CPI-M workers were questioned
by the police after the recent PW attack in Purulia in which a police officer
was killed and six others injured. It is this aspect that has become a
cause for concern for both state and Central officials. "There are always
some disgruntled members in every political party. But if cadres of an
organised party in power start helping militant outfits then the consequences
can be dangerous. Police have always depended on local committees and panchayats
to get information on criminal activities and maintain vigil in the border
areas. Now we don't know whom to trust," another officer said.
In North Bengal, the KLO has established
itself with help from the Ulfa. In return, Ulfa has spread its extortion
network wide in North Bengal districts. It is learnt that in several extortion
cases, CPI-M men had acted as the conduits. Some of these people were later
arrested but many remain untraced. Some KLO and Ulfa bases are located
inside the dense forests at Pepong and Kalitala along the Bengal-Bhutan
border. Apparently, weapons training was also imparted to militants inside
these forests.
