Bindu Bala Das, whose son Joydev is missing since the police action in Nandigram, at her home. (AFP)

Sonachura, March 17: The CBI today ruled out the Bengal government’s theory that police had fired in self-defence in Nandigram.

Sleuths probing the case said there had not been enough provocation to make the policemen open fire on Wednesday.

After a two-day visit to Sonachura, Adhikarypara and Tekhali, the CBI team, acting on instructions from Calcutta High Court, revealed their findings.

“We asked the police officials a few specific questions, but their answers were not satisfactory. Their statements do not corroborate the real facts,” said a CBI official, who is part of the agency’s 15-member team.

“The police claimed that they had no option but to shoot because the villagers allegedly started firing at them and hurling bombs indiscriminately. However, we do not believe this to be the case. Had there been heavy firing from the end of the protesters, how come not a single policeman of the huge force was injured?” asked the official.

The police have said they “had a narrow escape as bullets almost grazed our body”.

The CBI sleuths, however, were unwilling to accept the reason. “Each and every time, they had a lucky escape? How can fortune favour a huge group of policemen to such an extent?” one of them wondered.

An official statement by the police saying they had fired only 20 rounds on Wednesday also took the probe team by surprise. “So far, 14 people have died. And around 35 more have sustained bullet injuries. So how can we believe that they only fired 20 rounds? It just does not add up,” an official pointed out.

The sleuths said they were focusing on three factors: whether the police operation was necessary; what drove the policemen to open fire; and why they did not leave the place when they realised the situation was turning volatile.

“It is still not clear to us why the police operation was carried out. Senior police officials told us that the protesters were not allowing the administration to enter the villages by cutting off roads, and they wanted to hold dialogues with the villagers. If this was true, then why did they gather thousands of armed policemen and create a war-like situation?” asked the officer.

“They should have sent a junior-level officer instead of deploying an officer of inspector-general of police rank,” he said.

The sleuths today visited the police control room at Tamluk to find out if it had a voice-recording system. “We found nothing,” said an officer.

The personnel of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory led by superintendent of anti-corruption wing D.K. Thakur examined bloodstains at a field in Adhikarypara, where four persons had been killed.

“We have collected evidence and it will be sent for a forensic test. The post-mortem report of the victims will reach us soon,” said B.B. Thakur, CBI joint director (east).