100 Maoists still hiding in Lalgarh: Official

October 8th, 2009 KOLKATA - For the first time since the joint forces began their operation to flush out Maoists from the Lalgarh belt, the leftwing ultras Thursday admitted the death of one of their hardcore activists in a clash. "Marang, 21, one of our squad members, was killed by Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-supported hooligans and the paramilitary troopers this (Thursday) afternoon," top rung Maoist leader Kishenji alias Koteswar Rao told mediapersons.

September 30th, 2009 KOLKATA - A Maoist sponsored 48-hour shutdown disrupted normal life in West Bengal on Wednesday. Shops, educational institutions and business establishments remained closed in Jangalmahal area of West Midnapore district.

July 24th, 2009 KOLKATA - A police official was abducted by a group of suspected Maoists Friday evening in the troubled Lalgarh region of West Bengal, following which a gun battle ensued between the rebels and security personnel, police said. "We came to know that a policeman was abducted by a group of Maoists in Lalgarh-Ramgarh region.

July 22nd, 2009 KOLKATA - Railways Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee Wednesday demanded an end to the joint security operation against Maoist rebels in the trouble-torn belt of Lalgarh in West Bengal. "The joint operation should stop," Banerjee said and emphasised the need for talks with Maoists to solve the issue.

June 30th, 2009 KOLKATA - Conceding that none of the 22 villagers arrested by security forces during the Lalgarh operation were "outright Maoists", the West Bengal government Tuesday said all of them will be prosecuted under the Indian Penal Code and not according to the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Declaring that charges framed under the UAPA on two of those arrested from Bankura will be withdrawn, state Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said they would also be tried under the IPC provisions.

June 29th, 2009 KOLKATA - The central government should carry out a statewide operation by deploying central forces to recover illegal firearms from different parts of West Bengal, Railways Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said here Monday. "The Centre should take up this responsibility and conduct operations to recover illegal firearms from across the state," she said.

June 29th, 2009 KOLKATA - West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has told his Cabinet colleagues that his government would not indiscriminately use the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, under which the Centre banned the Communist Party of India (Maoists). PWD Minister Khiti Goswami has quoted Buddhadeb as saying at a meeting of the Cabinet Core Committee formed to tackle the Maoists problem in the state.

June 28th, 2009 LALGARH - Two suspected Maoist rebels were arrested Sunday and seven landmines defused by the security forces conducting an operation to flush out the leftwing ultras from in and around this troubled area of West Bengal. Two of the landmines were discovered on the roadside near Kargil junction at Sarenga in neighbouring Bankura district, said Inspector General of Police Raj Kanojia.

June 27th, 2009 KOLKATA - Security forces on Saturday resumed their offensive against Maoists in West Bengal's Lalgarh District, moving from Kadashol village into neighboring forests to flush out the rebels hiding there. Reports suggested that the Maoists might have fled to Ramgarh, which is located around 12 kilometers from Kadashol.

June 25th, 2009 LALGARH/KOLKATA - While security forces are carrying out operation in the Maoist infested area Lalgarh in West Bengal to free it from criminals' grip, local students lament that their studies are getting affected. A section of students complains that studies are getting affected due to the ongoing operation by the security forces in the jungles of Lalgarh region in Medinipur district of West Bengal.

June 24th, 2009 KOLKATA - West Bengal government on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of any talks with the People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), which is believed to have a strong link with Maoists in Lalgarh, until they surrender their arms and end the terror unleashed in the area. West Bengal's Chief Secretary, Ashok Mohan Chakraborty, said in Lalgarh that members of the PCPA were equipped with sophisticated arms and unless they surrendered them in order to create a conducive atmosphere, talks could not be held.

June 20th, 2009 KOLKATA - A convoy of 20 media vehicles, presspersons on board, came in for a shock on Saturday evening when a group of Maoists surrounded them and took them away from the State Highway into Maoists infested villages, according to reports received here. The armed Maoists did not allow the mediapersons to operate their cameras and asked them to abide by directions on route.

June 20th, 2009 BANGALORE - Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Saturday said Maoists in West Bengal's Lalgarh are willing to sit at negotiating table if their basic demands for water and electricity are met. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who is the founder of the Art of Living foundation, Friday talked to rebel leader Chakradhar Mahato and asked the group to lay down their arms.

June 19th, 2009 KOLKATA - The West Bengal government Friday claimed that some top Maoist leaders including Kishanjee may have fled Lalgarh and said it has sought more central forces to combat the entrenched Left radicals in the area. I feel a few Maoists have fled that area.

March 25th, 2009 KOLKATA - Police will carry out a combing operation to sniff out Maoist rebels from the tribal-dominated Lalgarh region of West Bengal before the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, an official said Wednesday. 'We will be sending police forces to Lalgarh before the April-May elections to search out Maoists guerrillas in the region so that polls can be conducted in the district peacefully,' West Bengal Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen told reporters here.