CPI-M leader shot dead in West Midnapore

KOLKATA - Suspected Maoists gunned down a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district, police said Saturday.

“Rabi Mahato, a CPI-M leader of Ramgarh near (Maoist hotbed) Lalgarh, was dragged out of his house by a group of armed men Friday night. His bullet-ridden body was recovered Saturday morning,” said a senior police officer.

“The modus operandi revealed that the Maoists are involved in the crime. Maoists posters claiming the responsibility were also found from the spot. They mentioned Mahato was a scout of the armed CPI-M cadre and police and thus he was given capital punishment in a peoples’ court,” said the officer.

Meanwhile, two skeletons were found near Lakhanpur forest near Lalgarh by villagers Saturday morning. Security personnel rushed to the spot and took them for tests.

State Chief Secretary Samar Ghosh said: “A DNA test would be conducted on the skeletons to ascertain the identities of the victims.”

“In 2009, two policemen went missing from that area, and they could not be traced even after repeated search operations,” he added.