Maoists kill CPI-M leader in Bengal

KOLKATA - A Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district was shot dead by Maoists Sunday for acting as a police informer, police said.

“We were informed that a bullet-ridden body was lying near a forest in Beliabera village of Jhargram sub-division,” Superintendent of Jhargram Police district Praveen Tripathi told IANS over phone.

“The body was recovered and identified as that of Rameshwar Bag. He was a local CPI-M leader,” he added.

Maoist posters, claiming responsibility for the crime, were recovered from the spot. They read that Bag was given ‘capital punishment’ for acting as police informer, Tripathi said.

The victim’s family members alleged that a group of 8-10 armed Maoist cadres raided their house Saturday night and dragged him out. Bag was later shot dead a few metres away from his house.

Bag was an active CPI-M leader in the area but had been refraining from party activities fearing attacks by the rebels, police said.

The Maoists are active in three western districts of the state - West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura.