Buddhadeb lashes out at Trinamool, promises to disarm all grps

New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) Accusing Trinamool Congress of"openly and directly" associating with the Maoists, WestBengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said hisgovernment would take steps to disarm all armed groups thereand ensure that incidents like the Netai killings do notrecur.

"I told the Home Minister that he should tell them(Trinamool Congress) in no uncertain terms that they mustdissociate with the Maoists", Bhattacharjee, who met PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram here,told reporters.

While earlier the Trinamool Congress were having"secret contacts" with Maoists and giving them "covertsupport", "now all that is in the open. They are openly anddirectly associating with Maoists to foment trouble there. Wehave confirmed it from different sources, including those(Maoists leaders) who have been arrested".

He said Trinamool and Maoists and their frontalorganisations were holding joint public meetings including twoin the recent past and added that some Trinamool leaders werealso caught recently escorting Maoists, injured in encounterswith joint forces, for medical treatment in Orissa.

Replying to questions on Calcutta High Court directiveon the Netai killings to disarm armed groups, the ChiefMinister said the state government was "firm" on the issue,including such groups in that area.

The High Court also refused to order a CBI probe intothe case and said it will monitor the investigation by thestate CID into the incident in which nine persons were killedallegedly by CPI(M) cadres on January 7.

"It is good. Let the CID continue its investigation,"Bhattacharjee said when asked to comment on the court order.

He said areas under 28 police stations were earlieraffected, but the situation has improved for the better inmost of these areas -- almost 70 per cent in West Midnapore,the entire Bankura and half of Purulia districts including thedensely- forested Ajudhia Hills bordering Jharkhand.

"The joint forces are dominating in the three affecteddistricts where government offices, panchayat and BDO officesare now functioning normally. Schools and markets are open,"he said, adding that problem still existed in areas borderingJharkhand and Orissa.

However, Bhattacharjee said "a dangerous situation"was being created by the Trinamool Congress'' nexus with theLeft extremists, with the former "supporting, funding andarming" the Maoists earlier and accused them of jointlyplanning the agitation in Nandigram in 2007.

Besides taking steps to disarm all armed groups, "Iagreed with the Home Minister that the recent incident inNetai village was very unfortunate. We will ensure that suchincidents do not recur".

He did not deny a suggestion that even Left cadreswere armed in "some areas". .