By IANS
Kolkata : A group of unidentified miscreants, suspected to have links with the Maoists, killed three villagers in West Midnapore district of West Bengal, the police said Sunday.
“A few residents of Garmal forest area were involved in repairing a road near Shalbani in West Midnapore district Sunday. Suddenly, a gang of eight armed men came out of the forest and dragged six of them into the forest. Later in the afternoon, three bodies – identified as those of Mukul Tiwari, Jugal and Nabakumar – were found with multiple bullet injuries outside the forest territory,” West Midnapore Police Superintendent R. Rajshekharan told IANS.
He said the residents of Garmal are suspecting the murderers to be Maoist guerrillas.
“Till now we are not sure about the identity of the group. We are trying to find out three other workers who also were dragged into the forest,” Rajshekharan said, adding police teams were sent to carry out a combing operation in the area.
Sources said a number of Maoist posters were also recovered from the spot where the bodies were found.
One of the eyewitnesses, Rajni Das, said: “I am sure the murderers are Maoists. Firstly, they caught one worker, Biren, but immediately let him go since he was known as a Congress activist. There was the sound of constant firing for at least five minutes after the six were dragged into the forest.”
West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia of south Bengal are the three Maoist-infested districts in West Bengal.