Three Maoist camps dismantled in joint operation

KOLKATA - At least three Maoist training camps were dismantled during the joint forces’ operation along the West Bengal-Jharkhand border, a senior state police officer said Thursday.

“The security forces have dismantled three Maoist training camps while carrying out a flush-out operation in the dense forest areas of West Midnapore and neighbouring Jharkhand state.

“The first phase of the search drive has come to an end today (Thursday),” state Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Surajit Kar Purakayastha told reporters here.

He said during the joint operation the central forces’ troopers and the state police extensively carried out an area-dominating exercises in the entire area.

“We have decided to deploy our forces to those areas where we have dismantled the Maoists’ bases,” Purakayastha said, adding the training camps had been set up by the Leftwing rebels in West Midnapore’s Belpahari and Singbhum area of Jharkhand.

Police said similar operations had also been carried out in neighbouring Jharkhand.

West Bengal and Jharkhand are among half a dozen states most acutely threatened by Maoist violence. The other states include Bihar, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

State Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty said the anti-Maoist operation would continue in neighbouring Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa also.

“The joint forces’ target is to restore law and order in the Maoist-dominated pockets in three western districts of the state and provide security to the people,” he said.

According to sources, six more companies of central paramilitary troopers had also arrived in the state Thursday, taking the total number to 24.

State Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said the government had also replied to the union government Thursday informing them about the anti-Maoists strategies it had taken up to combat the red insurgency.