By Biswabrata Goswami

PCPA bandh brings life to a standstill

24 August 2011

statesman news service
MIDNAPORE, 24 AUG: Life in most parts of Junglemahal in West Midnapore was paralysed since morning today due to a 24-hour bandh called by the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), a frontal outfit of the CPI-Maoist. No untoward incident was reported from the area.
The bandh was held to protest “Trinamul Congress-sponsored alleged terror tactics” in Junglemahal as claimed by the PCPA. It was for the first time after the change of guard in Writer’s Buildings, the PCPA called a bandh in Junglemahal. The bandh kept Belpahari, Binpur, Lalgarh, Nayagram and Gopiballavpur areas completely paralysed with almost no traffic on the roads and attendance in state government offices being practically nil. Schools and colleges in the area were earlier notified to be closed. Shops and markets also kept their shutters down.
Unlike earlier occasions, no political party took out processions asking people not to observe the bandh. This was the first time that a bandh called against the Trinamul Congress by the pro-Maoist organisation had an impact on the entire Junglemahal area. The Maoists had put up posters and distributed leaflets in Odolchua, Bholabheda, Chakadoba and other parts of Belpahari, Lalgarh, Nayagram and Gopiballavpur asking people to observe the bandh, which virtually seemed to be a fresh challenge for the security forces and the Trinamul Congress in the entire region.
To make people feel their presence in Junglemahal, the Maoists killed a Trinamul Congress worker at Belpahari and burnt effigies of the Trinamul Congress chief Miss Mamata Banerjee two days ago when the Prime Minister Dr Manmohon Singh was attending the convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur.
Yesterday, the Maoists fired several rounds in the air at Rajput village in Jhargram to terrorise the people. Later, the security forces reached there and brought the situation under control. Mr Dahareswar Sen, a CPI-M district committee leader, said: “When we were in power, the Maoists raised their guns against us. This time, they are threatening the Trinamul as the latter failed to keep their promise made before the Assembly poll”. Mr Dinen Roy, Trinamul’s district president, however, brushed aside the allegation and said: “Miss Banerjee will resolve the matter soon.”