District Magistrate Anup Agarwal convened the meeting at the Nandigram block office. “If the parties keep their promise, normalcy will soon be restored. The future of Nandigram depends on the conduct of political parties,” he said.

During the meeting, Agarwal laid stress on the recovery of firearms from villages. The police will conduct search operations with the help of electronic devices and sniffer dogs, he said.

S S Panda, Superintendent of Police of East Midnapore, requested the parties to cooperate with the police and assured that his team will be impartial during the operations.

After the meeting, he led a police team conducting search in sensitive areas of Sonachura, Garchakraberia and border villages of Khejuri. Last night, police had recovered crude bombs, pistols and bullets from the Talpatti canal, said Panda. Heavy rains have affected the search raids, he added. Police sources said a huge quantity of firearms and explosives were stockpiled in the villages and were used by the supporters of both the political parties.

During the meeting, Abu Taher, saha-sabhapati of Nandigram Panchayat Samiti and local Trinamool leader, urged the district police to deploy forces in the border areas of Khejuri to prevent attacks by CPM cadres.

He also demanded that the movement of the people from Khejuri to Nandigram should be restricted. Asoke Bera, CPM district committee member of East Midnapore, opposed the idea.