Buoyed by the Kolkata High Court's criticism of the West Bengal government over the acquisition of land for the Tata Motors' car plant in Singur, members of a group led by the Trinamool Congress staged a protest on Sunday outside the facility and demanded the return of the land.

At least 500 members of the Save Farm Land Committee from Gopalnagar and Bajemelia villages protested outside the project site at Beraberi Purbapara and shouted slogans as a large contingent of police stood guard.

The protestors said their sit-in was proof that they had not given up their land or taken the compensation given by the state government.

The demonstration came in the wake of the High Court's observation on February 23 that the state government's process for acquiring land at Singur for the project prima facie appeared to be illegal.

The court also directed it to furnish all details of the controversial acquisition of 997 acres.

The protest was planned by the Committee on Saturday.

Social activist Medha Patkar, who has criticised the 'forcible' acquisition of farmland for the small car project and was prevented from entering Singur on several occasions, is scheduled to address a rally of farmers on Monday.

This will be her first visit to Singur since prohibitory orders barring rallies and protests were withdrawn earlier this month.

The officer-in-charge of Dadpur police station, who was among the large number of policemen deployed for the past few months, was rushed to Burdwan after he complained of acute chest pain.