Maoists kill CPM supporter in Bengal

“A CPM supporter, Choton Mahato of Chandebila village in the Kotwali police station area, was found shot dead on early Saturday. He was dragged out of his house by a gang of armed Maoists on Friday night,” West Midnapore’s Superintendent of Police Manoj Verma said.

The ultra left rebels carried out a series of subversive attacks in several areas in the district’s Jhargram sub-division. In Bhowadi village near Dharampur, the rebels triggered two landmine blasts in a forest beat office, blowing up a major portion of the building.

A commandant of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force said: “Early Saturday we heard a huge explosion but fearing that the rebels had planted more landmines in the area we did not proceed towards the spot in the dark.”

“We have recovered several improvised explosive devices and wires from the area. The building was badly damaged and all the documents kept in the forest beat office have been destroyed,” said the commandant. The Maoists also set ablaze a wooden bridge over a ditch in Chaltabera village near Nayagram, to prevent the entry of the joint forces in the villages, Jhargram police chief Praveen Tripathi said.