A Nandigram villager who has returned home arms herself with a brick and sticks. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Tamluk, May 8: East Midnapore superintendent of police S.S. Panda said tonight that the violence in Nandigram would continue till the panchayat elections wind up on May 11 and he would not be able to do anything to bring it under control.

Speaking to reporters as Mamata Banerjee protested at his office, he said: “Nandigram will continue to be a hotspot for trouble and violence till May 11, and it is not possible for me to bring the situation under control. However, after May 11, I believe I will be able to restore normality in the area.”

The SP said many arms are lying hidden with “local people”. “But it is neither possible for us to recover them, nor is it our responsibility,” Panda said.

Asked about protection for the villagers who had returned to Nandigram, he said: “We cannot provide protection to the homeless people who have returned on an individual basis, it is just not possible.”

Not that they are banking on the police too much. Many of the around 200 villagers in Nandigram Block I, who returned today after being hounded out by CPM cadres, are still living in fear and have decided to protect themselves with sticks and stones.

In the run-up to the May 11 rural polls, 600 villagers had been forced to flee.

Mamata sat on a dharna inside the office of the SP tonight. “CPM activists are hurling bombs and firing to create panic among villagers who returned home today,” she shouted at him.

The officer agreed to visit Nandigram but backed out when the Trinamul Congress chief insisted she would follow him.