With a top Raj Bhavan official confirming the news, this will be the first visit of the Governor to a troubled area since his taking oath of the post on January 24.

In the political circles, the impending visit to Salua is viewed as a “triumph” of the Governor’s desire over that of the state government, which had earlier put a spanner into his proposed visit. The government had cited that EFR personnel and their relatives were in a state of high agitation. The state home department cited security grounds and advised the Governor against undertaking the Salua trip.

The Governor, however, insisted on going ahead with the visit and official sources said that the (Governor’s) proposal might have been discussed at the meeting between Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the Governor at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday. Immediately after the Silda attack on February 15, an aggrieved Governor had issued a stern statement condemning the attack and promising stringent action by state agencies. He called top state government officials including Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen, DGP Bhupinder Singh and ADG, IB, Naparajit Mukherjee and gathered the details of the attack.

Following the massacre at Silda, Salua EFR headquarters witnessed agitations by residents for two days. They asked for better security and demanded that the chief minister visit Salua and apologise for the incident. On the Governor’s plans to visit Salua, Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said: “I did not know that the Governor wanted to go to Salua. At least, I did not receive any communication,” Sen told The Indian Express.

Rs 2.75 cr for boundary wall
The state government sanctioned Rs 2.75 crore on Wednesday for the construction of a boundary wall and barbed wire fence around the three camps at Salua.