Kharagpur IIT faculty and students protest Nandigram killing

Midnapore, Mar 19 (UNI) Altogether 300 faculty member and students of the Indian Institute of Technology(IIT), Kharagpur today organised a silent procession within the campus, in protest against police atrocities in Nandigram.

At the rally, Dipak Banerjee, a final year Mechanical Engineering student said the land acquisition policy should be reviewed keeping the farmers in mind.

The protestors demanded compensation for the injured and to the families of those killed by the police. Proper treatment should also be provided to those admitted in the different hospitals.

The silent agitators also signed a memorandum to be sent to Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi and Chief Minister Budhhadeb Bhattacharjee urging them to restore peace in the area.

If the state does not take any step, all the IITs would resort to a joint movement for the cause, they said.

Meanwhile, educationists, social workers and common people in the town here also condemned the police firing on innocent peasants and requested the Governor for compensation.

They also urged the intervention of Mr Gandhi in this matter.

Meanwhile, the Maoists called a 24-hour bandh tomorrow in Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts condemning the police firing and atrocities on the peasants.

Keeping the bandh in view, EFR and paramilitary forces are being deployed in the forest areas of West Midnapore district mainly in Belpahari, Banspahari, Lalgorh, Salboni, Goaltore and Binpur areas and West Bengal-Jharkhand border.

UNI