UNI

Nandigram, Mar 14: At least 14 people were killed and 50 injured when villagers fought with police in a major flare-up in Nandigram of East Midnapore district on Wednesday while resisting the law keepers from entering the embattled area.

While 13 people, including a woman, were killed in police firing, a villager died after a bomb he was about to hurl, burst in his hands, official sources said. Of the injured 14 were policemen.

Terming it a "great massacre", the Trinamool Congress-led Krishi Jami Raksha Committee called a 12-hour state-wide bandh on March 16 to demand the resignation of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

The Congress, BJP and SUCI gave separate bandh calls on the same day.

District Magistrate Anup Agarwal told UNI that police had to fire when villagers attacked them with bombs and stones while additional forces were entering the area. He said four of those killed had so far been identified.

Demanding President's rule in the state, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee said at least 20 villagers had been shot dead and more than 200 injured. She alleged that most of the victims were women and children.

Banerjee, who alleged that a state sponsored terrorism was on in the state, visited the injured admitted to hospital.