Maoist posters at Bengal secretariat triggers alarm

Dec 14, 2007, 11:54 GMT

Kolkata, Dec 14 (IANS) Kolkata Police went into a tizzy Friday after Maoist posters condemning the violence in Nandigram were found plastered on the gate of Writers' Buildings, the high-security state secretariat.

Security personnel found the posters on gate no.1 and immediately removed them. Police have taken a photocopy of the posters for further investigation.

'Yes, Maoist posters have been found on the gate of the state secretariat as well in other places. The matter is being investigated by the police,' state Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy told reporters.

He admitted the state intelligence department had no prior information about it.

Asked whether any action would be taken against the police for the security lapse, Roy said city Police Commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakraborty would look into it.

'We have already filed a case and the investigation is on,' Kolkata Police Deputy Commissioner (Head Quarters) Vineet Goyel told IANS.

The posters blamed Chief Minster Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Left Front chairman Biman Bose and Communist Party of India - Marxist politburo member Binoy Konar for the March 14 firing and the spiralling violence in Nandigram.

Maoists posters were also found on the walls of a popular city joint - Coffee House - in central Kolkata.

At least 14 people had died and hundreds were injured in the March 14 police firing in Nandigram.

Nandigram, around 150 km from here in East Midnapore district, flared up over proposed land acquisition for a special economic zone (SEZ), including a chemical hub - a plan that was later scrapped by the state government in face of stiff resistance.

© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service