Singur tense after Medha Patkar arrest

KOLKATA: At least five persons were injured and trains and traffic were blocked in several parts of West Bengal on Saturday after protests against the Tata Motors car project in Singur.

Police fired rubber bullets when teargas shells and lathicharge failed to disperse farmers protesting against land acquisition for the project at Singur in Hooghly district.

Social activist Medha Patkar and Trinamool Congress MLA Rabindranath Bhattacharya were arrested when they tried to take out a march. At least 5,000 police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in Singur for the fencing of the 997-acre plot for the project.

Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia alleged: "The police were attacked with acid bombs and arrows and many of us, including women cops, were injured."

Singur Krishijami Bachao Committee convenor Becharam Manna rejected the police's allegations and claimed: "Our women were assaulted and children beaten up by the cops. Everyone was hit with batons."

MLA Bhattacharya alleged about 1,000 policemen swooped down on farmers and beat them up. Police stopped Patkar, chief of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, at Dankuni near Singur, where she was going to join the protesters.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who was forcibly stopped on her way to Singur for a rally on Thursday, asked her party MLAs to head for Singur.