Nothing costly found at Singur,say officials

A huge contingent of police personnel had been deployed at the project site on the High Court’s directions to maintain law and order even as villagers reportedly stole some items such as rods and bricks,police said.

A senior administration official who was present with the team said: “The list is almost complete. Hardly any costly material was found. In the sheds,we found nine Nano shells and nine engines. No important machinery was found in the shed. The list will be submitted to the district magistrate.”

In contrast,Tata Motors told the court on Thursday that villagers looted costly machinery,iron rods and other materials from the abandoned factory taking advantage of the absence of guards.

The Tata Motors official in charge of the project site,however,has not yet lodged any official complaint with the police.

A senior Tata official said,“We have informed the court about the loot at our project site. But we are yet to lodge any official complaint with the police. If necessary,we can file an FIR,but we will take every step after consulting our lawyer.”

“Moreover,at present,we do not have anyone inside the project area. All of our security guards were driven away from the factory site,” added the official.

The police have arrested one person for stealing bricks. “The villagers have taken away some rods and bricks. But we do not have any information about villagers stealing any expensive item from the factory site. We have arrested a person for stealing materials from inside the project site,” said a senior police official.

Confirming the arrest,Tanmoy Roychowdhury,SP,Hooghly,said the person was caught stealing bricks in the early hours.

The company guards left the project site when the West Bengal government formally took possession of the 997-acre land after the the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act,2011,was passed.

A police camp has been set up under supervision of Chandannagore SDPO Amitabha Maiti. The DIG,Burdwan range,SP of Hooghly and SDO Abhijit Mitra also inspected the site.

Mitra said 590 police personnel had been deployed to guard the entire stretch.

According to sources,a huge force,including six deputy superintendents of police and 21 inspectors,had been deployed.