Three men, said to be activists of the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), were dragged out of their houses on Sunday night and shot dead by Maoists in the Baghmundi area of the State's Purulia district.
The assailants pasted on the walls of some houses leaflets describing the victims as police informers.
“One of the victims was a modified ration shop dealer,” Home Secretary G.D. Gautama, who confirmed that the killers were Maoist activists, said here on Monday.
While the Left Front leadership condemned the killing, the AIFB's Purulia district unit called a 12-hour bandh in the Baghmundi area on Tuesday.
Though most of the attacks by the Maoists in the Jangal Mahal (forest) area spanning three districts in the southwest of the State have been directed at workers of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) the killing of AIFB activists in Baghmundi is an indication that the left wing extremists consider the Left parties as the main obstacle to extending their sphere of influence in Purulia district.
The extremists have a haven in the neighbouring Jharkhand State to where they flee after carrying out atrocities in Purulia district
