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Troops head towards Maoist-held villages
Subhrangshu Gupta
Tribune News Service

Kolkata, June 21
No major progress was achieved in the operation against the Maoists on the fourth day on Sunday as joint teams of the West Bengal police and paramilitary forces advanced on the Lalgarh-Ramgarh road to wrest control in around 17 odd villages still under the control of tribals.

The security personnel treaded cautiously, ahead of them an anti-mine squad making way for them. Today as well, sporadic incidents of cross-firing occurred in which the security personnel claimed four-five Maoists might have been killed and several other injured even though no bodies were recovered. There, however, was no report of any casualty from the forces’ side.

According to information, the security personnel today decided to adopt a policy of first freeing the locals from the clutches of the Maoists and then launching an offensive against the latter.

West Bengal DGP S Sarker confirmed the report of cross-firing: “The forces retalitated after being attacked by the tribals in forest area…Four-five Maoists might have been killed and several others injured but recovering the bodies was not possible due to the dense forest area.”

Addressing mediapersons, Chief Secretary AM Chakraborty said they had asked the forces to maintain extreme restrain against the villagers who were being forcibly used as human shields by the Maoists.

The main task of the government, he said, was to protect the innocent people and segregate them from the Maoists, and that the state police had been directed to act accordingly. Also, the government had already dispatched adequate stock of rice and other food grains and essentials to the disturbed area for the people.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress and CPM continued to play blame game on the issue. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that the Maoists in West Bengal were breakaway group of the CPM and at Lalgarh and elsewhere, these aggrieved groups had been attacking and killing (CPM) cadres with a revenge motive.

She denied the TMC and the Congress were in any way associated with the Maoists’ movement. Like Nandigram, she alleged, the Lalgarh problem had been created by the “arrogant” Chief Minister by adopting a “wrong policy”.

Mamata today sent two Union Ministers, Sisir Adhikery and Mukul Roy, to Midnapore for making an on-the-spot assessment of the Lalgarh situation. She said the ministers would talk to the local people and take necessary measures for redressing their woes.

On his part, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee accused the TMC of allegedly being very much behind the Maoists’ movement in Lalgarh, “as it was at Nandigram during the land movement”. He accused Mamata of “utilising” the Maoists for political mileage.

Naxal Bandh
States put on alert

New Delhi/Lalgarh, June 21
The Centre today described the situation in Lalgarh area of West Bengal as “sensitive and tense” and warned of possible “demonstrative acts of violence” by Naxals during the 48-hour strike called by them from tomorrow in five states.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram issued a statement asking politicians, people and non-government organisations to remain away from conflict area.

Union Home Ministry also issued an alert to Naxal-hit states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal based on intelligence inputs. The inputs suggested that the CPI (Maoist) may indulge in violence. — PTI