Howrah News Service -  Latest news and headlines on Howrah,West Bengal and World: Fresh violence erupts at Nandigram

Fresh violence erupts at Nandigram
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NewsByte on 22 May, 2008 06:02:29
 
By PARWEZ HAFEEZ
Kolkata, May 22: A day after the Left Front suffered an electoral debacle in
panchayat elections in East Medinipur district where Nandigram is located, fresh
violence erupted in the trouble-torn block.
The Trinamul Congress and the CPI(M) supporters clashed at several places,
leaving over a dozen injured.
The warring groups ransacked and looted several houses. The state
administration in Kolkata, however, said that the incidents in Nandigram were of
minor nature. "We have not received reports of any major incident of violence,"
the state home secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty said.
The violence broke out on Wednesday night after the capture of three out of
four Zila Parishad seats in Nandigram by the Trinamul Congress.
There were attacks and counter-attacks in Gokulnagar, Balarampur, Bhangabera,
Dandpur and Dekutia villages.
The members of the Trinamul Congress-led Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee took
out a victory rally. The local CPI(M) leader, Ashok Ghuria, alleged that
emboldened by their electoral success, the Trinamul Congress supporters attacked
his party cadre. "They went on a rampage in Balarampur, Sonachura and
Kalicharanpur et al," he added.
The CPI(M) lodged a complaint with the police, which itself appeared in a shock
after the ruling party’s rout.
The Trinamul Congress chief, Mamata Banerjee, had in the past alleged that the
officer in-charge of Nandigram police station, Debashis Chakraborty, was "a
CPI(M) stooge" who persecuted her partymen.
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China may consider joining IPI project
Beijing, May 22: China on Thursday said it would study "carefully and very
seriously" a proposal that Beijing also join the India-Pakistan-Iran gas
pipeline project "once issues are clearer".
"We are also very much aware of the proposal to explore the possibility of
extending and transporting natural gas. We do not know the details. We do not
know whether it is feasible or not. But once issues are clearer... We will study
that carefully and very seriously," Chinese assistant minister of foreign
affairs He Yafei told a delegation of Saarc journalists.
China, he said, was in urgent need of more energy. "Of course, we will be
interested. But it depends on a lot of things. As far as I know, this is a
proposal, just a proposal. So, whether it becomes a reality, we do not know or
even if it is feasible or it is workable, we do not know."
Asked if it would be feasible for both China and India to draw from the same
pipeline given various factors, he said, it was a "specific question that is for
experts to answer". "I can give you a general answer".
He said China had been discussing with India and other countries how best the
energy needs could be met "for all of us". (PTI)