India launches fresh offensive against Maoists in West Bengal

India, Jun 26, 2009

On Friday (June 26), Indian security troops began fresh operations against Maoist rebel strongholds in eastern West Bengal state, Indian officials reported. A police spokesperson said that after securing a large part of Lalgarh in West Midnapore district, troops were now seeking to gain control of surrounding areas, the BBC reported.  Maoist rebels had been in virtual control of the area since November. Recent violence had left at least 10 rival communist party workers dead in the region after Maoists, backed by villagers, went on the rampage, and burned down buildings, including police posts.  Police reportedly had abandoned the area, but the central government sent in some 1,000 paramilitary troops who helped take back control of the area over the weekend. According to the BBC, West Bengal police spokesperson Raj Kanojia said that troops were now targeting the areas of Goaltore and Ramgarh.  "The fresh operations started early on Friday. The forces are fanning out slowly and so far they have not met any resistance from the Maoists... But they have been told to be extremely alert because there could be stray raids, explosions and some obstruction by supporters of a local resistance committee close to the Maoists," the BBC quoted Kanojia as saying. However, the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) reported that rebels fired at security troops and triggered landmine blasts as troops advanced, but fled after troops returned fire. The government recently banned the Communist Party of India (Maoist), which allowed officials to arrest party members even if they were not directly involved in insurgent activities. According to the BBC, a senior Maoist leader and the party's "overground spokesman" Gour Chakrabarty was arrested on Tuesday (June 23).  The state's chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya has rejected Maoist offers of talks and said, "they must first surrender their weapons and stop the violence." Maoist violence has left some 6,000 people dead over the past 20 years. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Maoists as the greatest threat to India's internal security.