Maoists blow up building in West Bengal

KOLKATA - Maoists blew up the office of a Krishak Sabha (farmers’ association), affiliated to the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), and torched a community hall in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district early Friday, police said.

“A group of ultra Left rebels attacked and damaged the community hall in Jhargram town of the district and later set it on fire. The Maoists also triggered a landmine blast in the Bandhgora Krishak Sabha office,” said superintendent of Jhargram Police district Praveen Tripathi.

“No one was injured in the incidents, as no one was present in the building at that time,” said the police chief.

“We have also recovered some Maoist posters from the area claiming responsibility for the incidents,” added Tripathi.

A senior police officer said: “In a desperate move to make people aware of their presence in the area, the Maoists are carrying out such heinous activities.”

“After the killing of CPI-M activist Srikanto Mondal, an employee of the Sebayatan Girls’ High School, near Radhanagar by the Maoists, the CPI-M cadres set ablaze several houses of the members of the Peoples’ Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA). To take revenge, the Maoists carried out the attacks,” said another police officer.

Radhanagar is the first area in the Junglemahal (forested Maoist-dominated areas of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia) where some villagers protested against the Maoists and ignored their diktat of attending their meetings and rallies.

The CPI-M cadres have already regained their lost ground and put up a stiff challenge against the Maoists, so the guerrillas are frequently attacking in the villages and forcibly trying to reclaim their support base in the area, said the officer.

The Maoists are active in three western district of the state - West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia.