Protestors enter Tata site in Singur

SINGUR (WB): Activists of the Trinamool Congress-led Krishijami Raksha Committee forcibly entered the Tata Motors' small car project site here and uprooted fence posts on Wednesday, prompting police to use teargas to disperse them.

The protestors also dug up a small part of the road linking Bajemelia Uttar and Beraberi Purbapara and threatened  to dig up more roads if police continued to enter villages in the area.

Sub-Divisional Police Officer Kalyan Mukherjee told reporters here that police fired 14 teargas shells to chase away the activists who entered the fenced-off area at Bajemelia and uprooted 14 fence posts.

No arrest was made, he said. On the digging up of roads, Mukherjee said, "This is not Nandigram and there are alternative roads."

The Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee, which is opposed to the setting up of a SEZ at Nandigram, had dug up and blocked several roads to prevent the entry of police to the area.

Work on the Tata Motors plant in Singur began on January 21 after weeks of protests spearheaded by the Trinamool Congress.

Tata group chairman Ratan Tata said on Monday that the small car will roll out from the Singur plant on schedule in 2008.

The Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind, which had called for a march to Singur to protest the acquisition of farm land there, on Wednesday held a meeting near Chanditala, about 10 km away from the site of the Tata plant.

A large police force was deployed on National Highway 2 leading to Singur in view of the Jamiat's protest.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has also called for a march to Singur on February 10.