Mamta assaulted; wants Bangla bandh on Oct 9

Kolkata, Sep 26: Protesting against the alleged assault of the State Police on Trinamool Congress (TMC) Supremo Mamta Banerjee at Singur, several of her party workers have been sitting in a dharna here since last night demanding an unconditional apology from the West Bengal Govenment.

Miss Banerjee who was protesting against the disbursement of cheques to the farmers for accuisition of land by the Tata Group at Singur in Hoogly district yesterday was forcefully evicted by the district police and was forcefully sent back here.

In the subsequent malice Miss Banerjee was allegedly assaulted and grossly humiliated. ''Her saree was even torn off,'' official sources said.

Protesting against the 'barbaric' attacks of the state police, several of her party workers sat on a dharna near the Gandhi statue in central Kolkata since last night.

Meanwhile, her party had also announced road blockades at Singur and a 24 hour state-wide general strike on October nine.

''This is really humiliating and we demand justice for our leader,'' Miss Banerjee's party members said.

This morning several congress leaders, including Information and Broadcasting Minister, Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, and General Secretary Manas Bhuiyan, expressing solidarity with the TMC, extented their full support to the joint agitational programme of the Congress and Trinammol congress.

''We are extending full support for the Bangla Bandh on October nine and demand an unconditional apology from the state administration about this inhumane act,'' Incidentally, this Singur fiasco and the subsequent assault on Miss banerjee might lead to a major political issue before the coming Durga puja festival.

UNI