Bengal asks Maoists at Lalgarh to surrender arms
The West Bengal government on Sunday asked Maoists to surrender and help restore normalcy at Lalgarh and its adjacent areas where a joint operation by the state police and central paramilitary forces entered its fourth day on Sunday.
The West Bengal government on Sunday asked Maoists to surrender and help restore normalcy at Lalgarh and its adjacent areas where a joint operation by the state police and central paramilitary forces entered its fourth day on Sunday.
“The Maoists have no right to kill people, terrorise them and burn their homes creating a reign of terror in the entire area,” State Chief Secretary Asok Mohan Chakraborty said in Kolkata.
Chakraborty warned that anyone committing punishable offence under IPC would have to face consequences.
Briefing reporters after a high-level review meeting convened by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at the state secretariat, Chakraborty said the situation at Lalgarh was still very critical and the joint forces hardly made any move from their Saturday’s position.
“Central paramilitary forces, who have already reached Lalgarh, Pirakata, Bhimpur and Sarenga, are trying to sanitise the entire area and instill confidence among villagers,” he said.
He said the Central forces were attacked at one of these villages by the Maoists, but the attack was repulsed.
Chakraborty said statements by Maoist leaders and those of the People’s Committee against Police Atrocity (PCPA) show that “they have a close nexus”.