Milan Pradhan
Recounting the day of his Sept 18 arrest, Pradhan said, “After a meeting in Terapekhya, I was resting at a hotel in Chandipur when cops in mufti dragged me out, blindfolded me with a towel, and pushed me into a vehicle. At one point, I feared an encounter killing, but as a son of Nandigram, I kept my spine upright. ” The Nandigram land movement veteran alleged that he was then taken back to Chandipur around 2.30–3.00 am, blindfolded, and subsequently arrested. The govt in Bengal changed over Nandigram bodies (referring to the 2007 anti-land acquisition struggle).
“I feared I would be killed in a fake encounter,” Pradhan said as he stepped out of Haldia correctional home on Wednesday. Speaking about his primary electoral opponent, BJP’s Hasirani Rath, Pradhan said, “Hasirani is a mother. Nandigram: Allegedly blindfolded, pushed into a car, pressured to withdraw nomination – this is how Nandigram Congress candidate Milan Pradhan described his alleged ordeal in police custody. I was taken to a hotel lift and pressured to withdraw my nomination. I refused to bow down. Two senior police officers were there. We respect a mother. But BJP has fielded an outsider here as a candidate. Was no son of the soil eligible for that ticket? Many within BJP are angry about this. Ten people are still missing.”