The Maoists have threatened to start a full-scale offensive against the government if their leader Venkateshwar Reddy alias Telugu Deepak is not released by 5 pm on March 6.
Telugu Deepak was arrested by the CID on March 3 in Kolkata.
According to the Police Deepak was in-charge
of Naxal operations in West Bengal and was close to Naxal leader Koteshwar Rao alias Kishenji.
Telugu Deepak has been blamed of planning the attack in Sildha in West Bengal on February 15, in which 24 jawans of the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) lost their lives.