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After Buddha's gaffe, Mamata plays Naxal card
NDTV Correspondent, Monday October 26, 2009, Kolkata

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Families of the two policemen kidnapped by Maoists three months ago in West Bengal's Lalgarh have reached Delhi, escorted by Trinamool leader Partha Chatterjee.

Sub Inspector Kanchan Garai and constable Sabir Mollah had stepped out of their camp at Dharampur on July 30 to buy spare parts for a generator when Maoists whisked them away.

"We have come here for the two police constables who are still missing. We are going to request them to find them as soon as possible so that they can come back home to us. This is the only thing we are hoping for," said a family member of one of the cops.

"There is no clue of where the kidnapped cops are even after 90 days. We are going to complain to Chidambaram over the handling of the situation," said Trinamool leader Partha Chatterjee, who accompanied the families.

Mamata Banerjee is determined to wring as much political advantage as she can out of the situation. Her priority now is to make possible a meeting between the kidnapped cops' families and the home minister.

She says will meet the home minister with "documents" to prove "a nexus" between the CPM and the Maoists.

She also claimed she could also "prove" that the Maoists' killing of policemen and abduction of an officer at Sankrail last week were "stage-managed by the government".

Earlier, the CPM had accused Mamata of having Maoist links after she repeatedly opposed the government's offensive against the guerrillas in Lalgarh.

On Saturday, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had erroneously told a press conference that the two policemen had been killed, only to later change his statement.

The chief minister's statement took the state administration by surprise because police had information to the contrary.

Maoist leader Chhatradhar Mahato's bodyguard Papan Mondal had told the police almost a month ago that the kidnapped policemen were alive then.

In despair, the families approached Mamata Banerjee for help. The release of Sankrail OC Atin Dutta has raised their hopes.

For the families, going to Delhi is a desperate bid to have the two kidnapped policemen rescued. For the Trinamool, taking them to the capital may certainly be an attempt to help but it also is an opportunity to extract political mileage from a situation that could potentially be tragic.
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Tags: Naxal menace
Comments
Posted by S R GANGULI on Oct 29, 2009
The CM had caused anguish by his irresponsible utterance in the heart of the families and the relatives of those two policemen captured by the Maoists. I have never seen such an irresponsible CM in WB before.
Posted by Anup on Oct 28, 2009
How can things become any worse than it is in WB? There is an absolute need for change in the political leadership of WB. The CPM dispensation is the curse of WB.
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