By IANS,
Lalgarh (West Bengal) : Marching from two flanks and using helicopter surveillance, security forces Monday reclaimed the Maoist den of Kantapahari and entered the headquarters of protesting tribals around this area of West Midnapore district. The rebels tried to resist by exchanging fire with the troops.
The security forces have now decisively established their presence in the area, marking the return of the writ of the state in an arc surrounding Lalgarh to complete the first phase of operations launched June 18 to flush out Maoists.
While one group of central and state armed forces moved from Lalgarh in the south and retook Kantapahari, other troopers moved from Ramgarh in the north to march into Barapelia village – the hub of the Maoist-backed People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA).
The PCAPA had virtually made Lalgarh a ‘free zone’ for the last seven months by torching police camps and driving out the civil administration.
“The two security teams later met at Kantapahari and established a base camp,” Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia said in Kolkata on the 12th day of the operation launched to flush out the rebels from in and around Lalgarh, 200 km west of the state capital.
The entire leadership of the PCAPA, including its supremo Chhatradhar Mahato, have gone underground and police have launched a manhunt to track them down.
A senior police officer said on condition of anonymity that the top Maoist leaders like Koteshawar Rao and Bikash seemed to have fled the area.
“Villagers have helped and cooperated with us. And we hope we will get cooperation from them in the coming days also,” Siddhinath Gupta, the state police’s Deputy Inspector General (Operations) of the Criminal Investigation Department, who led the forces from Ramgarh, told reporters at Kantapahari.
State police Deputy Inspector General (Midnapore Range) Praveen Kumar described the operation as a “big success”, but said: “This is only a part of the operation which will continue. We will ensure restoration of normalcy so that development work can begin in full steam.”
Asked about the forces’ inability to nab Mahato or Maoist leaders at Kantapahari or Barapalia, he replied: “They are mobile targets. We are also mobile.”
Soon after the security forces met at Kantapahari, Maoists burst landmines and fired upon securitymen at Sijua village. West Midnapore police superintendent Manoj Verma confirmed the incident saying: “Police action is on.”
The security forces found weapons like bows and arrows, spears as well as cooked food and Maoist posters at the nearby Mohultoli jungles, proof that the rebels had taken shelter there.
The PCAPA and the Maoists had since last November established virtual control over 42 villages in Lalgarh and surrounding areas where hundreds of Maoist extremists had virtually taken over the role of the state administration.
Lalgarh has been on the boil since November when a landmine exploded on the route of the convoy of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and then central ministers Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitin Prasada.
Complaining of police atrocities after the blast, angry tribals backed by Maoists launched an agitation, virtually cutting off the area from the rest of West Midnapore district.
Maoists are active in areas under 21 police stations in the state’s three western districts – West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia.