CBI officials in Sonachura on Friday. Picture by Amit Datta

Sonachura (Nandigram), March 16: The CBI probing Wednesday’s police firing may dig up all the places where villagers claim more bodies have been secretly buried.

Officers of the central investigating agency told residents of Bhangabhera and Sonachura to come up with specific information and show them the suspected spots.

“Apart from finding out what exactly happened on March 14 and whether there was a real situation that forced the police to open fire, we will also pursue the allegation of a section of villagers that the actual death toll was much more than what the administration declared officially,” said B.B. Mishra, the joint director of the CBI (east).

Mishra said residents of Sonachura have alleged that more than 100 people died in the firing and thousands are missing.

“We told them to hand over to us a list of the families whose members are missing. If they come up with specific information, we will definitely investigate it,” he said.

A 15-member CBI team and 10 personnel from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) today examined the stretch from Bhangabhera bridge to Sonachura bazaar and collected samples of bloodstains on the road.

The sleuths also went around the one-km paddy field on the roadside and gathered evidences, including a rubber bullet.

“We examined the bullet with a bore mark of 7.32 mm. This is not used by the police and must have belonged to one of the villagers,” Mishra said.

Last night, the teams had visited the Tamluk subdivisional hospital and spoken to people injured in the firing and examined their wounds. They also collected documents, photocopies of the victims’ post-mortem reports, discharge certificates and surgery reports of the injured, and went through the register of the hospital morgue.

Led by Mishra, the sleuths, including an officer of superintendent rank and two of additional superintendent rank, arrived at Bhangabera bridge around 1 this afternoon.

In Calcutta, a three-member CBI team visited SSKM hospital today and collected information about the 14 patients from Nandigram admitted there. “The CBI officials wanted data on the nature of injuries, mode of treatment and other details, which we have handed over,” said Ashoke Ghosh, the medical superintendent of SSKM hospital. Ghosh said out of 14, 10 have bullet injuries.