Nandigram accused refuses to confess

A CPM worker, arrested for the atrocities committed during Nandigram violence, refused to give his confessional statement.

The painstaking efforts of the CBI to track those behind the atrocities committed during Nandigram violence in West Bengal hit a roadblock as one of the arrested persons, alleged to be a CPM worker, did a u-turn on Friday and refused to give his confessional statement.

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The accused, Badal Garu Das, arrested on March 13 from Haldia district of West Begal, was to have made his confessional statement on Thursday before the Metropolitan Magistrate in New Delhi.

However, in the morning, a battery of lawyers, approached the court and sought permission to meet the accused, whom the CBI claimed, was one of the perpetrators who allegedly committed murder and rape on March 14, 2007. The violence had claimed the lives of 14 persons.

CBI claimed that Das, during interrogation, had told the agency that he was wearing Khaki uniform and had murdered a woman after raping her. He claimed to be a member of the alleged armed unit of CPM, the CBI sources said.

Das was flown specially to Delhi from Haldia for recording his confessional statement before a metropolitan magistrate, much to the dislike of the local political leaders in the Haldia area, which moved the local court over there for him to be produced.

The CBI officials supported the move of recording his statement in the national capital saying the accused was having a sense of insecurity and that is why he wanted to do so here.