While the Central forces have launched an intensified inter-State joint operation on the West Bengal-Jharkhand border to flush out Maoists from the region, the police in the three insurgency-affected districts in West Bengal have been able to apprehend several militants on the basis of intelligence inputs.
The arrest of more than 13 suspected Maoists, including two People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) members, in the Paschim Medinipur district and the recovery of several gelatine sticks and detonators from two suspected ultras arrested in the Bankura district on Monday are cases to the point.
All the 13 persons arrested were produced in court on Tuesday where the PLGA members, Parameswar Mahato and Vrindavan Mahato, were remanded to police custody while the rest were sent to judicial custody.
The arrest of Parameswar and Vrindavan are being considered crucial by the police since their names figure in several cases of violence and arson in the region for the past one year.
Paschim Medinipur's police superintendent, Manoj Kumar Verma, said that their association with the cases was “most likely” and added that such security operations would continue in the district for the time being.
