Other States - West Bengal   

Bhattacharjee urges PM to curb terrorist activity

By Our Special Correspondent

The West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadev Bhattacharjee, with the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, in New Delhi on Monday. — Photo: Sandeep Saxena

NEW DELHI AUG. 26. The West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, raised the issue of increased terrorist activity in north Bengal at his meetings with the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani, here today.

Mr. Bhattacharjee told presspersons that he had told Mr. Vajpayee that something needed to be done to curb the activities of the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation and the United Liberation Front of Assam, which had set up bases in Bhutan. The KLO had "joined hands'' with the ULFA and was active in the northern districts of the State.

Earlier this month, five persons were shot dead by the KLO militants in a CPI (M) office in Dhupguri in Jalpaiguri district. "This cannot continue, I have told the Prime Minister and also the Deputy Prime Minister that this must be stopped,'' Mr. Bhattacharjee said.

A Home Ministry source said this was an ongoing issue between the Governments of India and Bhutan. India has apparently told the Bhutan Government that it will help identify those camps in the Bhutanese territory which must be disbanded.

Mr. Bhattacharjee said he also discussed the proposed bifurcation of the Eastern Railway with Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Advani.

His Government was opposed to the bifurcation, which would not solve the basic problems of safety and security in the Railways and was a waste of money. "This is not a problem between Bihar and Bengal.''

Mr. Bhattacharjee had suggested to the Prime Minister that the decision to bifurcate the Eastern Railway was a "political" one. To which the Prime Minister had responded by saying that he was a political person.

Mr. Bhattacharjee had told Mr. Vajpayee that as Prime Minister he must rise above this sort of political decision in the interest of the nation.

And had asked him to consult specialists, all of whom were opposed to the creation of new railway zones.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Bhattacharjee urges PM to curb terrorist activity

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu