PCPA calls for bandh in Junglemahal on Friday

The People's Committee against Police Atrocities called for a 24-hour bandh on September 10 in Junglemahal area in protest against the arrest of secretary Manoj Mahato and the killing of one of its members in an encounter.

"Manoj Mahato is a handicapped person who cannot walk properly. But police have charged him with several cases before denying his arrest from his house," PCPA spokesperson Asit Mahato, eluding arrest as he is also wanted by Central Bureau of Investigation in the Gnaneshwari derailment case, told PTI from an undisclosed location.

Denying his involvement in the train derailment, Mahato said "Not only me but Umakanta was also dragged into the case when we knew nothing of it. Some people had called Umakanta for a meeting and he was intercepted by the police and killed in cold blood." U

Umakanta Mahato was killed in an encounter on August 27. The spokesperson also alleged that the joint-forces and the state government were supplying arms to Communist Party of India-Marxist cadres, helping them to set up camps and capture villages.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had also admitted the existence of such camps in the districts, he said. Protesting against all these, the PCPA has called for a 24-hour bandh in three districts of Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore on September 10, Mahato said.

"The PCPA will also observe Black Day on September 7 and Demonstration Day on September 8 and 9," he said. When asked about the name of the new secretary, Mahato said "We will decide it soon."