Maoists Offer Talk as Forces Enter Lalgarh

Hours before security forces reached Lalgarh police station, Maoist rebels who have laid siege to Lalgarh block in Midnapore district of West Bengal offered talk with the state government.

The rebels headed by the extremist Communist Party of India-Maoists wanted security operations against them stopped and wanted officials to come into Lalgarh and speak to them.

Nevertheless, security forces entered Lalgarh and reclaimed police station besieged by rebels for months after an anti-landmine vehicle cleared the path for the security personnel.

“It is a partial victory. The hundred per cent operation is yet to be completed. It may take days, even weeks to do this,” DIG (Midnapore Range) Praveen Kumar told an impromptu press conference outside the Lalgarh police station.

The forces reached the police station without much resistance to take charge of the building which was locked from inside.

Security forces, which comprised BSF and CRPF personnel in particular, spread out in the forests for combing operations against the Maoists.

The securitymen in camouflage and bullet-proof vests sanitised the five-km stretch of Jhitka jungle, a Maoist area near Lalgarh in West Midnapore district.

According to Superintendent of Police Burdwan Humayan Kabir, security forces came under sporadic fire from rebels at Pingboni-Sarenga road. Two landmines planted on the road were defused, he said.

Lalgarh police station was not accessible since November last year when tribals launched a boycott of police under the banner of People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities to register protest against raids on their homes following a landmine blast targeting Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee’s convoy.

According to Superintendent of Police Burdwan Humayan Kabir, security forces came under sporadic fire from rebels at Pingboni-Sarenga road. Two landmines planted on the road were defused, he said.

Earlier Maoists blew up a bridge over a shallow river creating a temporary hindrance. The personnel, however, crossed the stream on foot.

The operation to reclaim the Maoist areas was being carried out by personnel of CRPF, BSF, State Armed Police, Eastern Frontier Rifles and Kolkata Police, who were moving in armoured vehicles fitted with anti-landmine devices and mortars.

When the security forces were driving from Pingboni, they were obstructed by a number of women. The forces were moving cautiously for the last two days to avoid civilian casualties.

Firefights with the Maoists occurred at two places between Pirakata and Bhimpur and near Pingboni last night with the villagers fleeing to safety, police said.

As the operation entered a crucial phase, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P Chidamabaram in New Delhi and apprised them of the situation in Lalgarh.

In Lalgarh, DIG (Western Range) Praveen Kumar said all the central forces, including specialised anti-Naxal unit CoBRA (Combat Battalion for Resolute Action) and the CRPF, have been a “great help”.

“We ask people not to be misguided by the Maoists. We know all their tactics now and have more surprises for them this time,” he told reporters.