West Bengal Governor M. K. Narayanan will be visiting the Base of the Eastern Frontier Rifles (ERF) at Salua in West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur district on Friday to meet the families of some of those killed in recent Maoist attack on a camp in Silda.
Twenty-four ERF personnel were killed in an attack by Maoists at Silda on February 15. Mr. Narayanan, a former National Security Advisor, wanted to interact with the families of those killed and hear their grievances, a source at Raj Bhavan said.
When a delegation of five Ministers of the West Bengal government visited the base at Salua, they faced the wrath of the families of the deceased who demanded better security measures for the security personnel deployed in the region.
The State government announced a compensation of Rs. 15 lakh to each of the bereaved families. They will also continue to receive the salary of the family member killed till the date he was to have retired.
The Governor and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee reportedly discussed the situation in the wake of the attack on the Silda camp here earlier this week.
Mr. Bhattacharjee will also be visiting Purulia and Bankura districts over the next two days. Certain pockets in both these districts have witnessed Maoist violence in recent times. The Chief Minister is going to hold meetings with officials in the two districts. Steps to counter Maoism are expected to be the topics of discussion in these meetings.
