Kolkata (PTI): Artistes and human rights activists on Tuesday expressed concern over the fresh violence in Nandigram in the run up to the May 11 panchayat elections.

The artistes expressed their concerns at a meeting with West Bengal Election Commissioner Ashok Gupta. "We have demanded that the CRPF should be effectively deployed for restoration of peace and violence stopped if free and fair elections are to be ensured in Nandigram," film director Aparna Sen, who led the group, told PTI.

"If violence is not stopped, the election there will be reduced to a farce. Every day there are reports of atrocities there," she said.

She also questioned the neutrality of the administration as some officials who were indicted by the CBI for the March 14 police firing continued to be posted there. The delegation also included noted theatre personality Saonli Mitra, renowned painter Sova Prasanna, APDR activist Sujato Bhadra and intellectual Amiya Chatterjee, who submitted a memorandum to the state election chief.