126 instances of police firing in three years in West Bengal

September 28th, 2009 KOLKATA - The West Bengal government Monday sounded a high alert in three Maoist-affected districts following the arrest of People's Committee against Police Atrocity (PCAPA) leader Chattradhar Mahato Saturday. "We've alerted the police and the district administration and asked them to be prepared for any untoward incident and retaliation by the Maoists extremists," West Bengal Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty told reporters here.

September 24th, 2009 KOLKATA - Two villagers, believed to be supporters of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), were abducted and killed by suspected Maoist guerrillas late Wednesday night near Maoist-hit Lalgarh area in West Bengal, police said Thursday. The incident took place at Goaltor area in West Midnapore district where Nemai Bishayi, 60, and Samir Singha Mahapatra, 50, were abducted and then killed by the Maoists when they were returning to their village.

August 17th, 2009 KOLKATA - The Maoists have called an indefinite shutdown in three tribal-dominated districts of West Bengal from Tuesday, police said here Monday. "An indefinite shutdown has been called by the Maoists in three districts -- Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore from tomorrow (Tuesday)," West Bengal Inspector General (Law and Order) Surajit Kar Purkayastha told IANS.

August 12th, 2009 KOLKATA - Security forces opened fire at suspected Maoist rebels in West Bengal's troubled Lalgarh Wednesday afternoon and the gunbattle continued for over an hour in the forested area, police said. "Yes, there was an incident of heavy firing between the joint security forces and the Maoist rebels in Bhulabheda forest area of West Midnapore district today," Kuldeep Singh, state Inspector General (Western Range) of Police, told IANS.

June 2nd, 2009 AGARTALA - Tripura Tuesday decided to give Rs.5 million to cyclone-hit West Bengal to help in the relief relief efforts. "The people of Tripura are confident that with the resilience of the people and the adequate support of the central government, the West Bengal government would come out of this situation," Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said in a letter to his West Bengal counterpart Bhudhadeb Bhattacharjee.

April 30th, 2009 KOLKATA - One paramilitary trooper was injured in a landmine explosion in West Bengal's Maoist-hit Purulia district while the Lok Sabha polls were underway Thursday, the police said. 'One central paramilitary force jawan was injured in a low-intensity landmine blast in Balarampur area.

April 14th, 2009 KOLKATA - The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) faces a tough fight in the Lok Sabha elections but would get a majority of seats in West Bengal, the party's general secretary Prakash Karat said here Tuesday. 'We will have a tough battle in the elections, but we have faced situations in the past when the opposition had virtually come together without an alliance,' Karat told reporters in response to the Congress and Trinamool Congress joining hands in the state.

April 9th, 2009 KOLKATA - A section of city intellectuals opposed to West Bengal's Left Front (LF) government Thursday released their election manifesto demanding fair and peaceful voting in the coming Lok Sabha polls in the state. Releasing the manifesto, the intellectuals appealed to all political parties and electorate to consider the points mentioned in the four-page proposal sheet.

March 28th, 2009 KOLKATA - A three-storey police outpost building has collapsed in West Bengal. No casualty was reported, an official said Saturday.

March 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress Thursday expressed hope that the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) would 'realise' its mistake of withdrawing support to the Manmohan Singh government over the India-US civil nuclear deal. The Congress reaction came on the day the CPI-M admitted that the government controlled by it in West Bengal committed errors in Nandigram and Singur.

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.

March 20th, 2009 KOLKATA - Throwing police into a tizzy, a motorcyclist intruded into the convoy of West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Thursday. The incident occurred on the busy Park Street when the chief minister was on his way to the state secretariat, Writers' Building, police said.

March 18th, 2009 KOLKATA - Activists of Trinamool Congress and Congress party organised a yagna here for the success of the alliance of these two parties in the ensuing elections to the Lok Sabha. This was consequent to the finalisation of the tie-up and sharing of seats between the two parties in West Bengal.

February 26th, 2009 KOLKATA - All border districts in West Bengal have been put on alert following the mutiny by Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) troopers in the neighbouring country's capital city of Dhaka. 'The district magistrates and superintendents of police in the border districts have been told to be alert.

February 1st, 2009 KOLKATA - Two tribals were killed in a clash with activists of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in West Bengal, the police said Monday. The clash broke out between the CPI-M activists and Maoist-backed tribals over the death of CPI-M leader Nandalal Pal.