Several months before Lalgarh hit the headlines in November 2008,the West Bengal government had a fair idea of the extent of Maoist presence and activities in the state,including Nandigram. The information was received after interrogating CPI-Maoist Bengal state secretary Himadri Sen Roy alias Somen. The Maoist leader was arrested by the state Criminal Investigation Department in February 2008 from Hridaypur railway station in North 24-Parganas. Over the last few days in Lalgarh,Mallojula Koteswara Rao alias Kishanji,claiming to be in-charge of Bengal unit of CPI-Maoist,has told media that Maoists were present in Nandigram for long,when they supported the Trinamools movement to resist the state governments plan for land acquisition. On Friday,CPM state secretary Biman Bose accused Mamata Banerjee of shielding Maoists quoting Kishanjis interviews to media. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and senior Trinamool leader Sougata Roy,now MoS Urban Development,have denied that their parties had any links with Maoists. But,according to Somens interrogation report,accessed by The Indian Express,the 58-year-old admitted to Maoist involvement in Nandigram and links with Trinamool leaders and Trinamool-backed Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC). In the report,which was forwarded to the state government by the CID,Somen also outlined the regional organisational structure of the party. The CID report claims Somen,during his interrogation over a year ago,said: * CPI-Maoist leaders,including Soren,visited Nandigram in December 2006 to assess the temperament of locals when protests against land acquisition by the state government for a chemical hub was just about beginning. * Based on the visit,a meeting of his party was held in Chakulia forest in Jharkhand in February 2007 to devise a strategy for Nandigram. A decision was taken to keep the Maoists away from the forefront of agitation,due to lack of proper organisational network in Nandigram. It was also decided to procure arms. Accordingly,the party central committee sanctioned Rs 8 lakh,by which six .315 rifles and 500 bullets worth Rs 4 lakh were purchased from one Sahoo based in Jharkhand. * The consignment was received at Haldia,shipped to Nandigram and kept at the house of CPI-Maoist East Midnapore zonal committee secretary Narayans residence in Sonachura,the epicentre of Nandigram movement. Besides these,30 crude guns were procured locally. Narayan also acted as the link with the BUPC,whose members Karabi,Ranjit Pal and Dipak formed the Maoist squad along with Narayan. * Somen also confessed to visiting Nandigram in July 2007 for two days and staying at Narayans residence. * Narayan was in contact with Trinamool MP from Tamluk Subendhu Adhikari,who was the then MLA from Contai South Assembly Constituency,and BUPC leaders. Maoists also forged links with Sidiqullah Chowdhurys Peoples Democratic Council of India (PDCI),SUCI and Bandi Mukti Committee (BMC). * Several Bengal intellectuals,including BMC president Mahasweta Devi,went to Nandigram at the Maoists behest to exhort people to join the anti-acquisition movement. * However,as the Nandigram conflict progressed,relations between the BUPC and Maoists soured when the former rejected a proposal to form volunteer groups to take on CPM cadres,on the ground that it would unnecessarily draw the administrations attention. About the Maoists organisational set-up,the CID report claims Somen told his interrogators: * Kishanji,who also operates under the names of Pradip,Bimal,Prahalad and Sridhar belongs to Andhra Pradesh,was elected in-charge of a new 13-member state committee as a central party observer at a state party conference held in August 2006 at Dampara in East Singbhum district of Jharkhand. Kishanji collected levy from contractors in Bankura,Purulia and West Midnapore averaging Rs 8 lakh per month. He also received Rs 1.3-1.5 lakh from the central party headquarters every month which he distributed directly to the state unit. He also wrote the press statements of the party in English,while Somen framed the Bengali ones. * Training of fresh inductees was conducted in Damuria Hills of Dalma forest in Gorabandha,Mayurbhanj,Orissa,where they were instructed in use of arms and explosives and taught about the Maoist ideology. Trainees would move in small batches of two to three by train from Howrah station to Tatanagar in Jharkhand,then by public transport to Dalma Hills and finally on foot. * At the 9th Unity Congress held from January 12-17,2007 in Pareshnath Hills in Giridh,Jharkhand,a 32-member central committee and five alternate members were elected and four regional bureaus were set up. These include the Eastern bureau covering Assam,Bengal,Jharkhand and Bihar. Under this comes the Midnapore-Bankura-Purulia zonal committee. A sub-zonal committee for Salboni,Lalgarh and Ranibandh is headed by Sasadhar Mahato,his wife Suchitra and Madan Mahato. Sasadhar alias Bikash is the brother of PCPA leader Chhatradhar Mahato. * Other zonal committees in Bengal are Howrah-Hooghly,Dalara-Kharsoa-Balarampur,Burdwan-Birbhum-Nadia-Murshidabad. There are also Local Organising Squads and Local Guerrilla Squads. As state secretary,Somen said he handled political matters,while military activity was under the Bengal-Jharkhand-Orissa regional committee. Adhikari,however,denied any links with Maoists. We believe in democracy. We can never support Maoists. Anyway,the CID acts on instructions from the CPM. No report of theirs can be believed. I had no contact with Maoists in Nandigram, Adhikari told The Indian Express. Mahasweta Devi also said she didnt know anyone named Somen or Himadri Sen Roy. Who is Somen? Why should I go to Nandigram or anywhere at the Maoists behest? All talk of Maoist links (with me) is nonsense, she said.
