A Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) activist, Ramakrishna Duley, was killed Saturday by suspected Maoist rebels at Saluka village in West Bengal's Bankura district, police said.
The 50-year-old Duley died in a hospital after he was fired upon by the ultras and a bullet hit him in the neck, said Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Surajit Kar Purakayastha.
Maoists are active in the state's three western districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia.
The state government had launched a massive security operation June 18 to flush out leftwing rebels who had virtually made areas in and around Lalgarh in the neighbouring West Midnapore district a "free zone" since November last year.
However, despite the nearly two-month-long security operation, the Maoist activities have been going on unabated, with several CPM cadres and tribals - whom the radicals have described as police informers - killed.