Govt. says no to sending armed forces to fight Maoists in Lalgarh

September 24th, 2009 LALGARH - Two local leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) were killed by suspected Maoists near Lalgarh. According to police, Maoists abducted Nemai Bishayi and Samir Singha Mahapatra late last night from a party meeting in Harimara village.

August 21st, 2009 LALGARH - A landmine blast and road blockades marked third day of shutdown call by Maoists in West Bengal. Maoists gave an indefinite shutdown call on Tuesday in West Medinipur, Bankura and Purulia districts of the state, demanding withdrawal of security forces from Lalgarh and protesting alleged police excesses on villagers in tribal dominated areas.

July 31st, 2009 LALGARH - Maoists provoked Lalgarh villagers to protest against the deployment of security forces since they reclaimed the Maoist held 'liberated zone.' The Maoists were evicted from the trouble-torn Lalgarh region at June 20 after an almost week-long joint operation by the State and Centre's elite security forces. But the villagers have continued protests since, demanding the security forces to retreat to normal days, a move which officials apprehend is a ploy to give the Maoists a foothold again.

July 28th, 2009 HOOGHLY/KOLKATA - Tribals armed with bows and arrows on Monday blocked highway and railway tracks in Hooghly district as a mark of protest against the deployment of security forces in Lalgarh region. Hundreds of protestors under the banner of Jharkhand Disom Party (JDP), a tribal organisation, demanded immediate withdrawal of security forces from Lalgarh.

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 - Security forces on Sunday arrested two suspected Maoists and defused seven landmines from Lalgarh, while flushing out the Maoists hiding around the troubled area of West Bengal's West Midnapore. Five landmines were recovered from Binpur, while two more were found near Kargil junction at Bankura district, said Raj Kanojia, Inspector General of Police.

June 26th, 2009 LALGARH J - The security forces today started fresh offensive operation to flush out the Maoist activists from the trouble hit Lalgarh in West Midnapore District of West Bengal. The joint operation by the paramilitary forces and the West Bengal State Police against the Maoists in Lalgarh area has entered the ninth day.

June 26th, 2009 LALGARH - Security forces on Friday reclaimed control over Kadasole village from Maoists, located north of Lalgarh in West Midinapore district, during phase II of ongoing operations against the naxals who set off two landmine blasts. Led by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the troops including jungle warfare expert and personnel of the Indian Reserve Battalion and State Armed Police, who were helped by a helicopter, exchanged fire for 45 minutes with the Maoists who later fled the village, said a senior CRPF official.

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 20th, 2009 LALGARH - Security forces in West Bengal's Midnapore on Saturday declared to have regained control over the troubled Lalgarh area of West Bengal. According to Director General Of Police, Midnapore, Praveen Kumar, they have regained control of Lalgarh, which was captured by Maoist rebels in one of the most brazen attacks in recent years.

June 19th, 2009 PIRAKATA - Fear stalks the villagers trapped in the exchange of fire between the security forces and the Maoist rebels who declared Lalgarh region of West Bengal 'liberated zone'. The gun battle between the paramilitary troops and the Maoists caused unease amongst the residents of Pirakata village, 18 kilometres from Lalgarh, and from where the security personnel launched their operation against the rebels.

June 19th, 2009 New Delhi, June 19 (ANI): Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday said the security forces would take more time than previously anticipated, though they were moving cautiously towards the Maoist claimed "liberated zone" in West Bengal state.

June 18th, 2009 LALGARH - The West Bengal Police, supported by central paramilitary forces, initiated the operation to flush out Maoist from Lalgarh in West Midnapore District of West Bengal. It was the forth day, since the red brigade captured nearly fifty villages in and around Lalgarh, which is nearly 150 Km from the state capital Kolkatta, and declared it as the liberated zone.

June 17th, 2009 Lalgarh (West Bengal) (ANI): The Maoist have blocked access to Lalgarh in West Bengal putting up a three tier human shield, including women and children to prevent entry of central paramilitary forces, who are planning free the area from them. According to police sources, the Maoists have formed a three-tier human shield with women and children in the vanguard, men behind them and armed naxals at the rearguard.

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.