Senior police officials, officials and workers associated with the Nano plant and villagers in Singur confirmed to the Sunday Express that Tata Motors had arranged to have several of its key equipment—including automobile moulds and casts—shifted out from the ‘press shop’ of the factory at Singur.

When asked about the midnight operation, Debasish Roy, chief of communications for Tata Motors, said: “I cannot comment on this matter. Work at the Singur plant remains suspended. We had announced Nano would roll out in the October-December quarter. We will stay as close to this plan as possible.”

But an officer at the Singur plant said, “The equipment was packed off and transported at night on September 10 and 11. The moulds are specific to Nano and are not available at any other plant. So these had to be taken to our other facilities. The rest of the shops are untouched.” According to a source, two consignments—one in 12 trailers and the other in 8—left on two consecutive nights.

Police officials on duty at Singur also confirmed that some machinery and equipment had been moved out. An inspector general of state police, who didn’t want to be named, confirmed the midnight operation.

Plant officials and engineers said the moulds had to be shifted immediately since it takes some time to get them going after the installation. But they said the shifting hadn’t been done at the cost of the Singur plant. If a turnaround in the Singur situation does happen—though that looks increasingly bleak—the plant here will be ready to manufacture the one-lakh car and can be “operationalised within a short period of time for limited production”.

Company officials said some men were already being relocated. Sapoorji Pallonji, the firm engaged by the Tatas for site construction, has already withdrawn its workforce of 260 personnel, including 60 engineers, and have transferred them to other sites.

“We have got clear indications that work (in Singur) is not going to resume anytime soon. So we are planning to transfer some of our engineers,” said an executive of Sapoorji Paloonji. He said they have already transferred 60 engineers from the Tata plant to TISCO in Jamshedpur, Tata Cancer Research Institute site in Rajarhat and other construction sites.

The Singur deadlock is back to where it all began when on Friday, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee refused to accept the government’s offer to return 70 acres of land from within the plant site to rehabilitate unwilling farmers. On Saturday, at an emergency meeting, Left Front partners backed Buddhadeb Bhattachajree and resolved that agitators should either accept the government’s offer or “leave it”. Front partners unanimously decided to launch a “political offensive” against Mamata Banerjee with a public meeting at Singur on Monday. The chief minister may also address the rally. Mamata Banerjee will respond with a rally at Singur on Tuesday, where, she said, she would explain to farmers how the government had gone back on its words.