Missing in Nandigram

“Everybody seems to have forgotten us. We are almost starving and I don't know what to do,” says Krishna Majhi, whose husband, Subal, has been missing since November last year. Krishna has three daughters and two sons to take care of.

While the relatives of those who were killed in the police firing and the subsequent clashes have received financial help from different quarters, these six families have not got anything so far as they have no “proof” of death.

“We have heard from villagers that three of the six missing were murdered, but we found no proof. Unless dead bodies are traced, no death certificate can be issued. We are continuing our search for the missing people,” says D P Tarenia, IG, CID, who heads the investigating team for the missing.

Swapan Dey, Circle Inspector (CI) Mahishadal, who is part of the investigating team, also confirms that six persons are still missing.

The BUPC initially filed an FIR at Nandigram police station submitting a list of 42 people as missing. But 36 of these later returned home.

Meanwhile, the local CPM leaders deny that anyone is missing. “The BUPC people are saying that some people are missing but they often utter nonsense. I don't think anybody is missing,” says Ashok Bera, Nandigram Zonal Committee member and Sabhapati of Nandigram Panchayat Samity.

Subal Majhi, 32
On November 10 last year, Subal Majhi, a farmer, left his home in Sonacura village of Nandigram at 8 am, promising his nine-year-old daughter, Sonali, that he would return in an hour and bring her books and toffees. But he never returned. Majhi has been missing since that day, when Nandigram was forcibly “recaptured” by armed CPM cadre. He was participating in a peace rally organised by the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) against land acquisition, when they came under attack by CPM men near Maheshtala market. “My father told me he was going to take part in the rally. But he never returned. I am sure he will come back some day,” says Sonali, a Class IV student at the local primary school.

Balaram Singh, 28
Like Majhi, Balaram Singh, a resident of Southkhali, left the house in the morning of November 10 to take part in the rally. A member of the BUPC, Singh, was a small marginal farmer. He told his two sons that he would be back soon, but he never returned.

Bhagirath Maity, 31
Bhagirath Maity of Southkhali was a daily wager who lived with his mother, wife and son. On November 10, Maity left home at around 8 am to take part in the rally, never to return home again. Since he was the sole breadearner, the family is now finding it difficult to make ends meet.

Narayan Das, 45
“I have looked for him everwhere, from Nandigram hospital to SSKM hospital, the police station, morgue, all the houses of our relatives. People said he was shot in the leg and was dumped in a car, but we never heard from him,” says Sajal Das, son of Narayan Das, in Sonachura.

Aditya Bera, 65
An ex-serviceman, Aditya Bera left his house on November 6 and hasn't been seen since. “People told us that they saw my father-in-law shot lying in a pool of blood. We asked for a death certificate, but the police said since his body was not found, a certificate cannot be issued,” says Shyamli Bera, his daughter-in-law.

Satyen Gole, 45
“We are mere pawns in the hands of politicians. My husband has been missing for the last four months but nobody, not even the BUPC leaders, came to help us. My husband was the only earning member of our family and we are in distress now. We don’t know what to do,” says Durga Gole, wife of Satyen Gole of Southkhali.