Student leaders on way to Lalgarh detained

Kolkata Police have detained seven persons who were on their way to Lalgarh from Kolkata at the Midnapore station on Thursday for interrogation.

According to the West Midnapore police, Jotiska Das and Ananya Mukherjee, students of Calcutta University; and Saumya Mondal, Raktim Ghosh and Prabuddha Ghosh, students of Jadavpur University reached Midnapore station around 10.30 am today.

Manik Mondal, a writer, and Puspendu Chatterjee, a documentary filmmaker, were also with them.

West Midnapore SP Manoj Verma said they planned to go to Lalgarh to take part in the tribal students’ movement demanding the withdrawal of police from schools.

Police asked them not to enter Lalgarh and its adjoining areas as Section 144 CrPC was imposed there. The five students are members of the United Students Democratic Front. They were interrogated by the police for an hour and released when they gave a written undertaking that they would not go to Lalgarh.

Students from Jadavpur University had visited Nandigram and Singur to express their solidarity with the movement against land acquisition.

Tribal students have started an agitation demanding the withdrawal of the State-Central forces from schools where camps have been set up for temporary accommodation of the forces.

Various students’ unions condemned the detention of the five students, saying if leaders could visit Lalgarh, students should also be allowed entry.

IE