Maoists sending reinforcement to Lalgarh

KOLKATA: About 50 highly-armed Maoists from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are trying to enter West Bengal’s Lalgarh and Jangalmahal areas to help beleaguered comrades to unleash a new wave of terror, intelligence agencies have warned.

The specific information picked up by intelligence agencies in Delhi have been passed on to forces stationed in affected areas. Jharkhand-based Maoist leader Kundan Pahan, who is leading the rebels, are believed to be at the Jharkhand-West Bengal border.

All 11 police stations in Jangalmahal have been put on the highest alert and security forces. According to information reaching here, cross-border Maoists from Jharkhand could be trying to enter Jangalmahal with the specific intention of carrying out a big operation to restore confidence among fellow comrades in forest areas of Lalgarh.

For the past few months, Maoists in Lalgarh and Jangalmahal have been through very tough times. In the third week of July, Maoist commander Sidhu Soren and five of his associates were killed in a fierce encounter by joint forces in the forests of Goaltore in West Midnapore district. Soren’s death came as a major blow to Maoists in Lalgarh and Jangalmahal.

After Soren’s death, hardcore Maoists fled from Lalgarh to Jhargram. CPM is now making every possible effort to recapture Lalgarh. CPM’s armed cadres have reached Dharampur, 12 km from Lalgarh.