Maoists attacked security forces trying to reconstruct a camp in West Bengal's Bankura district on Sunday. There were no casualties.
“There was some firing from the Maoists in the Sarenga thana area, to which security forces retaliated. The Superintendent of Police and other officials rushed to the spot with reinforcements,” G.A. Ansari, Bankura's District Magistrate told The Hindu over phone.
The incident took place at Bhalukchira, about 20 km away from Sarenga in the afternoon. There were reports that the firing was preceded by landmine explosions.
“Some of the camps in Bankura were being reorganised and we were setting up a camp in the area,” Director-General of Police Bhupinder Singh said.
The State government is in the process of reorganising security camps in the three Maoist-affected districts of Bankura, Purulia and Paschim Medinipur after an attack on an Eastern Frontier Rifles (ERF) camp at Silda on February 15. Twenty-four ERF personnel were killed in the attack.
Earlier in the day, an exchange of fire between security forces and Maoists also took place at Lakhanpur near Salboni in Paschim Medinipur.
“We had prior information of the Maoists' presence in the area. When we went there they opened fire,” said Manoj Verma, the district's Superintendent of Police.
