New Delhi: The West Bengal government on Saturday secured the Lalgarh block headquarters from Maoists rebels, who offered to talk with the authorities if security operations against them were stopped.
Security forces, which were equipped with mine-proof vehicles and landmine detectors, marched five km through a forest, considered a Maoist den, to reach the Lalgarh block headquarters on the third day of their offensive against eh rebels.
Central and state forces treaded with extreme caution as they combed the Jhitka Jungles on way to Lalgarh in West Midnapore district.
The first batch of the security forces--comprising personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force and the state armed policemen--have reached Lalgarh police station after starting from their base camp in Bhimpur, said a top police officer.
The commandos of the elite CoBRA (Combat Battalion for Resolute Action) of the CRPF, a specialised anti-Maoist force, is part of the team which reached this police station, which had virtually been non-functional over the last six months ever since the Maoists entrenched themselves in the region.
The policemen, who feared for their security, had locked the police in November when Maoists declared Lalgarh a “liberated zone”. The district police superintendent led the team into the police station on Saturday and took charge.
The security forces have been advancing from four directions towards Lalgarh, where the Maoist guerrillas have been active in organising a tribal movement alongside a tribal body.
Apart from the main contingent at Bhimpur, three other teams are moving from Jhargam and Goaltor in West Midnapore district and Sarenga in Bankura.
Rebel leader’s peace offer
As the security forces marched in, Communist Party of India-Maoist politburo member K Koteshwar Rao urged west Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee not to "dance to the tune" of the Central government.
"He is acting like a puppet of the Centre by launching the operation against us. I demand that the state government withdraw the forces, apologise to the people and send their top representatives to Dalilpur in Lalgarh for talks with the masses," said Kishanjee, who claimed he was still in Lalgarh.
"If the Left Front government wants to have discussion with the people of Lalgarh, the operation by the police and security forces against them should end by this afternoon," Rao, a politburo member of the CPI(Maoist), told a TV channel.
State Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen on Friday had claimed that Kishanjee had fled Lalgarh.
Two security personnel were injured in a landmine blast triggered by the rebels on Friday.
Lalgarh has been on the boil since last November when a landmine exploded on the route of the convoy of Bhattacharjee and then central ministers Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitin Prasada.
Complaining of police atrocities after the blast, the angry tribals launched an agitation virtually cutting off the area from the rest of the district.
During the last few days, the agitators have torched CPI-M offices, driven away the party's supporters and forced the police to leave, thereby establishing a virtual free zone.
Maoists are active in three western districts of the state - West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia. They also backed the Trinamool-sponsored movement against the state government's bid to establish a chemical hub at Nandigram in East Midnapore district.
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