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Maoist attacks on Bengal police Maoist 'rampage' in West Bengal
(about 5 hours later)
Maoist rebels in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal have attacked police camps and demolished the house of a local communist leader. Hundreds of Maoists backed by thousands of villagers have seized the ruling party's last stronghold in a troubled part of India's West Bengal state.
The bodies of four workers of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) were recovered in the restive jungle region of Lalgarh. Armed rebels are reportedly patrolling roads around the village of Dharampur in the Lalgarh area after police fled. Three people were killed, reports say.
A further four are missing. Police say they may have been killed or kidnapped. Rebels have been entrenching themselves in Lalgarh since last November and now have almost total control of the area.
Rebels have taken almost total control of Lalgargh in West Midnapore district since last November, reports say. Maoist-linked violence has killed 6,000 people in India over the past 20 years.
About 6,000 people have been killed in violence linked to Maoist rebels in India over the past 20 years. The rebels operate in more than 180 districts across east and central India and are seen as a major threat to national security. Last week more than 20 police were killed in the eastern state of Jharkand.
They are active in states across east and central India - the so-called "red corridor". Last week more than 20 police were killed in the eastern state of Jharkand. The Maoists say they represent the rights of landless farmhands and tribal communities.
Police 'non-existent' 'Ransacked'
In the latest incident, rebels ransacked and torched at least three police camps after entering the Dharampur area of Lalgarh on Monday. The BBC's Amitabha Bhattasali in Calcutta said that as hundreds of workers from the state's ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), fled the Lalgarh area, Maoists claimed it as their first "liberated" zone in West Bengal.
They also destroyed the house of a local communist leader who managed to flee his home, reports said. Communist party offices ablaze - rebels are in virtual control of Lalgarh
The rebels have also made their presence felt in around 170 villages in Lalgarh, threatening supporters of the state's ruling communist party and warning them to leave the area, reports said. One of the police posts was later set ablaze and the Maoists were reported to have demolished the house of a local communist leader.
The district has experienced unrest for a number of months. "The Maoists went on a rampage yesterday in Dharampur village and ransacked our zonal secretary's home and party office before setting it on fire. Three of our men are dead and six more still missing," a CPI(M) official said.
Tribal people in Lalgarh launched violent protests and strikes against the police in the area last November. The village of Dharampur was the last bastion for the ruling communist party in Lalgarh. Other villages in the area had been under Maoist control since November.
The house of a political party leader was demolished Our correspondent says that taking control of Lalgarh is part of a long-term plan for the Maoists.
The protests came shortly after former federal minister Ram Bilas Paswan narrowly escaped a landmine explosion set off by suspected Maoist rebels. The area encompasses vast tracts of the forests of West Midnapur, Purulia and Bankura districts of West Bengal and adjoins parts of the states of Jharkhand and Orissa.
The BBC's Amitabha Bhattasali says that Lalgarh has remained under almost total control of the Maoists ever since then, with the police and administration virtually non-existent there. Arrests
At that time a serving police officer in West Bengal caused controversy by refusing to command a camp in district. He is reported to have told colleagues he would rather resign than risk his life. Lalgarh has experienced considerable unrest for a number of months.
Analysts say that Maoists operate in 182 districts in India, including some in West Bengal. The violence began last November when police arrested some local residents on suspicion of attempting to assassinate the chief minister of West Bengal state, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, after he narrowly escaped a landmine explosion set off by suspected Maoist rebels.
The rebels say they represent the rights of landless farmhands and tribal communities. They have attacked police outposts and enforced strikes in India's mineral heartland. A Peoples' Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) was subsequently formed to protest against the arrests. They launched violent protests and strikes against the local police.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called the Maoist movement the "biggest threat to India's national security". The police and state administration have been virtually non-existent in most of Lalgarh since then. Polling booths could not be set up for recent general elections so voters had to cast ballots outside the area.
Our correspondent says the insurgents and the CPI(M), which has been the state's dominant political force, have been fighting a turf war.
In the past few years, he says, the Maoists have extended their influence with guerrilla commanders camping in the area and providing basic military training to local youths.
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