Social activist Medha Patkar on Tuesday met the family members and neighbours of Tapasi Malik, whose burnt body was found on the land acquired for the Tata Motors small car project in Singur, as tension prevailed in Bajemelia locality over the mysterious death of the girl.
Patkar, who was accompanied by members of Association for Protection of Democratic Righs, SUCI and women rights activist Anuradha Talwar, went around the area in a large group as police personnel looked on.
Asserting she was not in Singur to instigate trouble as alleged in some quarters, Patkar said, "We are here as people want us to be with them."
Patkar urged Communist Party of India-Marxist poliburo member Brinda Karat to "come and visit Singur to assess whether farmers are in favour of land acquisition" instead of confining herself in Kolkata.
The 'Narmada Bachao' activist said she had approached Left leaders in New Delhi to emphasise that majority farmers in Singur were not willing to hand over land for the project.
Tension prevailed at Bajemelia Dakshinpara village as villagers huddled in groups, though no untoward incident took place. A strong contingent of police was deployed in the area.
Malik's burnt body was discovered on Monday morning sparking off widespread protests and a 48-hour Bangla bandh call by Trinamool Congress. The state government ordered a CID probe into the death of the girl.
The mother of deceased Molina Devi told PTI earlier that her daughter was a supporter of the movement against land acquisition.
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