When in trouble, call Red Brigade

The Telegraph
NARESH JANA
A suspect being taken to court. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Nandigram, March 18: The local CPM had plotted to regain lost ground in interior Nandigram villages through armed struggle ever since villagers opposed to land acquisition became more aggressive and marched to Khejuri, crossing the Talpatti canal early in February.

According to party insiders in Nandigram and Khejuri, some local CPM leaders played a key role in bringing in armed activists from outside under tremendous pressure from grassroots party workers, particularly those who fled their homes from about 24 villages in Nandigram after the Bhoomi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee launched its movement.

Among those who took the most active part in mobilising the CPM action squads — popularly known as the Red Brigade — were a zonal committee member and two local committee secretaries in Nandigram.

“Police were mute spectators and pressure on the local leadership was mounting to do something drastic so that our comrades could return home,” said a party leader in Khejuri.

Gauging the mood, the district leadership tried to calm local leaders but in vain.

By the second week of February, thousands of Pratirodh Committee members marched across the Talpatti canal and drove away the CPM workers from villages on"