Kolkata ,March 25: In an encounter lasting over 12 hours — one of the longest shootouts between security forces and Maoists in West Bengal — joint security force personnel cordoned off the camps of at least three Maoist squads believed to be in and around Lalgarh in West Midnapore.
Though rumours were rife that the forces had raided that specific area with prior intelligence about the presence of CPI (Maoist) politburo member Kishenji in that area, state DGP Bhupinder Singh claimed, “Many important Maoist leaders are camping there. Kishenji had been there when OC Sankrail Atindranath Dutta was abducted and kept there in October 2009.”
“The intensity of the encounter on Thursday, which lasted for so many hours, only hints that there must be some very important leader there at present,” added Mr Singh. He however, refused to comment on Kishenji’s present location. Meanwhile, IG (Western Range) Zulfikar Hassan dismissed the rumours and claimed there was no intelligence about the presence of Kishenji in that area.
Official sources revealed that four companies of the district police and CRPF started conducting search operations in Lakshmanpur, Dharampur and Bhulageria, under the jurisdiction of Lalgarh police station, on Thursday morning. “The operation started very early. Within minutes of starting the operation, they (Maoists) started firing. We retaliated. One of the constables of the Cobra force suffered bullet injuries,” revealed a senior officer. Though official sources remained tight-lipped, insiders divulged that at least one Maoist is suspected to have been shot dead and another injured. However, due to the absence of a body the fact could not be verified.
“We have picked up some persons. Some of them have been injured or might have died. But nothing can be confirmed at present,” said the DGP.
Highly placed sources in the West Bengal home department revealed that Thursday’s operation was designed after intelligence that at least 35-40 armed rebels were camping in and around that area. The input had not ruled out the presence of Kishenji. Hundreds of rounds were fired during the encounter, which lasted till some time after 8 pm Thursday. When reports last came in, the security forces had managed to cordon off the entire stretch and were carrying out search operations.
Monalisa Chaudhuri
