New Delhi: The Centre on Monday fired at the defeated Left leadership, saying that recovery of illegal arms from CPM offices and supporters had vindicated its charge about state-sponsored violence under Left's rule, while urging Mamata Banerjee to intensify the crackdown.
Casting all ambivalence about its allegations against gun-running by the CPM cadre in WB, Union home ministry said police raids since poll results had yielded 1,109 firearms and 11,088 rounds of ammunition in West Medinipur district alone. While only a small part of the cache has been directly recovered from Left premises, the ministry, in a statement, emphasized that the bulk of recovery was made from "the proximity of CPM offices".
The statements from home minister P Chidambaram and ministry would please Trinamool Congress which decimated the Left in its stronghold to come to power last week.
The 100 raids in 10 days since the change of government recovered an INSAS rifle and an AK-56. A rifle allegedly looted by Maoists from a paramilitary camp being traced from near a CPM office could have implications for the Left. The Union home minister referred to pre-poll violence at Netai where he had first spoken of CPM's armed "harmad" camps -- a charge that was denounced by Left. The haul is being cited as a vindication by the Centre against the CPM which now also have to contend with a state government which may be eager to order a crackdown on illegal arms.
"Now we know that arms caches were in many places. The new government has its task cut out. It will have to redouble its drive to recover these arms,” Chidambaram said.
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