KOLKATA: At least three persons were killed in Nandigram on Tuesday in pitched battles between  the CPI(M) and the Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee of Maoists, the Trinamool Congress and Islamist  organisations. The toll could go up as unconfirmed reports said many bodies were yet to be recovered.

The trouble apparently started while some CPI(M) supporters evicted from Nandigram tried to re-enter the area from the relief camps in adjacent Khejuri. There was heavy exchange of fire at the Tekhali bridge and BUPC activists triggered a   landmine, killing Tusharkanti Sahu a CPI(M) activist. Another CPI(M) supporter Nirapada Ghata died of bullet wounds.  A CPI(M) activist Robin Das died in hospital.

Police said that since the morning there were clashes at several places at Nandigram.
 
Confirming that the entire area had virtually taken the shape of a battlefield, West Bengal home secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy said a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) battalion would be deployed at Nandigram shortly.