JOIN USMaoists kill two cops in WB
The ultras, according to eyewitnesses, were led by an armed woman and split into two groups after reaching the police station around 1:30 pm. While one group attacked the station, the other raided the adjoining Keshipota branch of the State Bank of India and forced the manager to part with Rs 9,23,500. The entire operation was over within 20 minutes.
Before leaving, the ultras mined their escape route to prevent police from following their trail. While the second officer, D Bhattacharya, and assistant sub-inspector, S Roy, were shot dead, the officer-in-charge, Atindranath Dutta, and a constable were abducted by the radicals who escaped to the thick forests at Jhargram, officials said.
According to initial reports, the ultras decamped with six rifles and four revolvers along with huge rounds of ammunition from the armoury. Heavy reinforcements dispatched by the Jhargram additional police superintendent were held up at Baribasa due to the presence of mines. The guerrillas, witnesses claimed, who were riding at least 15 motorcycles, disappeared into the forest.
Kishenji owns up
Kishenji, the self-styled Maoist leader, owned responsibility for the attack and said that more such attacks would follow if the Central forces were not withdrawn from Lalgarh and the adjoining region. He also cautioned the police against pursuing the Maoist trail, or else the abducted cops would be killed. The ultras also left posters demanding the immediate release of PCAPA leader Chatradhar Mahato.
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who conceded it was a serious incident, held a high-level meeting with Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty and the inspector general of police (law & order).
The brutal killing of the cops came barely days before the chief secretary’s scheduled visit to Lalgarh to review security in Lalgarh and monitor the pace of developmental work kickstarted by the government there in the aftermath of the operation by the joint forces.
Naxals aren’t terrorists: HM
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, on Tuesday, said Naxalism cannot be bracketed with terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and insurgency in the north-east and suggested that Maoists needed to be treated differently, reports PTI from New Delhi.
He also said that Naxals should shun the path of violence and come forward for talks with the government.