Maoists gun down two, try to blast railway station

KOLKATA - The Maoists gunned down two men associated with the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and tried to blow up a police station while four rebels were arrested in West Bengal, police said Saturday.

The two men were brothers and were shot dead in Chotopelia village in West Midnapore district Saturday.

The two victims were both CPI-M activists. Their bodies had bullet injuries, said West Midnapore Superintendent of Police Manoj Verma.

On Friday night, Railway Protection Force personnel foiled a Maoist plan to blow up the Purulia station by seizing high-intensity explosives kept in a bag, a railway official said.

The RPF personnel felt suspicious on seeing the abandoned bag on a platform and found it had detonators, gelatine sticks and splinters. The platform was evacuated, the official said.

This (Saturday) morning, bomb experts defused the explosives, said the official.

We believe it was the handiwork of the Maoists. A Maoist poster was also found from the bag. They wanted to blow up the station, said a police official.

The train services were disrupted on the Adra-Purulia section of the South Eastern Railway soon after the discovery of the explosives, and resumed Saturday morning.

In a separate incident, four Maoist squad members were arrested with arms and ammunition in Jhargram area of West Midnapore district Saturday morning.

Jhargram police superintendent Pravin Tripathi told IANS: “Four Maoist squad members have been arrested. We have also recovered fire arms and several rounds of bullets.”

The operation was conducted in Ramchandrapur town by central paramilitary troopers and state police personnel, he said.