Nandigram Incident Not an Attack, Mamata Was Injured Due to Accident: Bengal Police to EC

The incident in Nandigram wherein West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee suffered injuries was not an attack, but an accident because of massive crowd, said a preliminary report submitted to the Election Commission by the state police. Banerjee, who was allegedly heckled while campaigning for the upcoming Assembly polls in Nandigram on Wednesday, is undergoing treatment at SSKM Hospital for severe injuries.

A high-level team of officials, led by East Midnapore District Magistrate Vibhu Goel on Thursday morning visited the spot in Nandigram’s Birulia Bazar where the incident occurred. Midnapore DIG Kunal Agarwal, Superintendent of Police Praween Prakash and Additional Superintendent of Police Partha Ghosh also visited the spot and interacted with local people to get more information on what exactly happened with the chief minister and how she received multiple injuries all over her body.

The preliminary report submitted to the poll panel is not conclusive in nature and the probe team is on the job. A final report will be available after talking to all eyewitnesses. However, officials said no evidence has so far been found to suggest any gathering or group was formed to lead the attack, even though there were lapses in proper homework by the security team.

Earlier, Goel said, “We came to interact with the local people to collect details about yesterday’s incident. We are getting multiple views and statements. We have not found any CCTV footage. At the time of the incident, there was a huge crowd and therefore the local people failed to share details. We are going through the video footage and photographs. We will send it for examination and analysis before coming to a conclusion.”

Banerjee has claimed she was ‘heckled’ and received severe leg injuries while getting into her car after interacting with the local villagers in Birulia Bazar in East Midnapore on Wednesday.

The Trinamool Congress supremo was interacting with the local villagers at the area after filing her nomination in Nandigram when suddenly the situation became chaotic around 6.28pm due to a section of men present at the spot, and she fell down.

Calling it a conspiracy against her, Banerjee said that the attack was a well-planned one. “It was a conspiracy. The attack was planned well as there were no policemen around me. There were a couple of men in the crowd who pushed the door of my car and left me badly injured. Please allow me to go to a hospital,” she had said after the incident.