Maoist leader Kishanji reported injured in West Bengal forest gun battle

KOLKATA - Maoist leader Kishanji may have been injured in a gun battle between security forces and the rebels inside the Lakhanpur forest in West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur District.

“Kishanji is suspected to have been seriously injured during the seven-hour-long gun-battle between security forces and the rebels, and is believed to be undergoing treatment at a secret location in the district by local quacks,” quoted The Hindu.

It has been reported that during the exchange of fire the rebels suffered heavy casualties and the police suspect the casualty figure to be at least ten.

The West Bengal Police has refused to comment on whether Kishanji was injured, but the State’s Director General of Police (DGP) Bhupinder Singh, has said there was a possibility of a top Maoist leader being present at the gun battle site.

“It is suspected that several of those rebels injured in the firing have succumbed to their injuries.” There was also a report that a student of the city-based Jadavpur University was one of the Maoists killed in the exchange of fire,” Singh, adding there was no confirmation.

Based on inputs from several channels of information, including the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Intelligence Branch of Andhra Pradesh, The Hindu reports that Kishanji might have “suffered serious bullet injuries, if not killed.”

It has been reported that the Maoists started firing more heavily than as they moved away from the area, the tactic used by the rebels to shift the bodies of their slain comrades so that the police cannot recover them. (ANI)