Relatives of those injured in the renewed Nandigram violence at a hospital. (Pradip Sanyal)

Midnapore/Calcutta, May 6: The Haldia subdivisional police officer will camp in Nandigram till the rural polls, home secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti said today.

“SDPO Gaurav Sharma will camp in Nandigram for 24 hours from today to hear people’s complaints. Everybody will have easy access to him,” Chakrabarti said in Midnapore town after a meeting with senior police officers from the East and West Midnapore.

Director-general of police A.B. Vohra and western range inspector-general Rajesh Kumar were among those who attended it.

Officials said the decision to post Sharma in the war zone follows “numerous complaints” against Nandigram police station officer-in-charge Debashis Chakraborty.

“The OC will now have to act under the senior officer’s directives,” an official said.

Sharma reached the Nandigram police station in the afternoon.

Trinamul district president and MLA Sisir Adhikary had lodged an FIR against Debashis Chakraborty, accusing him of egging on a group of CPM supporters to throw stones at Mamata Banerjee’s car.

Mamata had called on governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi at Raj Bhavan with some of her party’s panchayat candidates and urged him to remove “CPM agent” Chakraborty.

The state election commission told the home secretary today that a section of the civil society had also demanded the OC’s removal.

Asked if the government would remove the OC, the home secretary said “no”.

He met CPM district secretariat member Ashok Guria and the MLA to take their views on how to conduct the May 11 poll peacefully.

“Our primary concern is to conduct a free and fair election in Nandigram. We have made all arrangements to ensure peace,” Chakrabarti said.

State Congress chief Priya Ranjan Das Munshi today called election commissioner Asok Gupta and wanted the polls to be put off in Nandigram.

“We can at best recommend postponement. It’s up to the government to take the decision,” panel secretary S.N. Roychowdhury said later.