The West Bengal government has sought the cooperation of Jharkhand and Orissa in rescuing the abducted officer-in-charge of the Sankrail thana in Paschim Medinipur district and tracking down the Maoists behind the attack on the station in which two policemen were killed on Tuesday.
Initial reports suggest that those responsible for the incident had sneaked in from Jharkhand. The thana is located close to the State’s border with both Jharkhand and Orissa, Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty said.
“It is a major incident, we are looking into it,” West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said prior to the meeting he convened to review the development at Sankrail.
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Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, according to a Raj Bhavan press release, observed that the killings and abduction of police personnel were “a deplorable act.”
“Left-wing extremists must realise that no just cause can be secured by such diabolisms; retribution will overtake them,” he said.
“It is too early to say whether the incident was indicative of the Maoists expanding their area of operation,” Mr. Chakraborty said after meeting the Chief Minister. “Our first and foremost task is to rescue the abducted police officer and track down the assailants. All that is required is being done,” he added.
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“The State government does not feel the need for any change in its stand regarding the joint operations by Central paramilitary forces and the State police against Maoists in Lalgarh and its adjoining areas in the wake of the violence at Sankrail,” Mr. Chakraborty said.
Reasserting the government’s determination to clamp down on terror and violence in the State, he said the government was bent on flushing out from Lalgarh and adjoining areas those who were creating terror and killing political opponents and in restoring normality in the affected areas.
“The site of the violence, however, does not fall within the core area of operations of the security forces. The joint security operation does not cover the whole of West Bengal,” Mr. Chakraborty said.
Police and security forces deployed in areas affected by the Left-wing extremism operated at great risk while doing their duties.
Earlier, the core committee of the Cabinet discussed the future of the joint security operations.
Addressing a separate press conference, Mohd. Salim, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), alleged that the Maoists and the Trinamool Congress shared “a common cause” in fomenting anarchy.