Tags: Jharkhand , Lalgarh , Maoists , WB govt , Kolkata

Kolkata: Grappling with a violent agitation by tribals in Lalgarh, the West Bengal Government today alleged that a squad of 100 Maoists armed with sophisticated weapons had entered the troubled area in West Midnapore district from neighbouring Jharkhand.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had received the information from the Jharkhand government, a senior Left Front leader, who was present at a party meeting at which the chief minister spoke, said.

The chief minister told the meeting that he would take up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he would meet him in Delhi on June 19, according to the Left leader.

The chief minister, who has not made any public comment on the intensified tribal agitation, said that central forces were needed for combing operations. The state had received one company of CRPF while it had requisitioned five.

RSP leader and the state PWD minister Kshiti Goswami, who attended the meeting, expressed disappointment over the chief minister repeatedly asserting that he would "look into the matter".

"The morale of the police has completely broken down following the attacks on police camps," he said.

Goswami claimed that in the post-election scenario, police in the state were "apparently listening more to the opposition parties than the ruling combine as the winds of change had also affected them". He apprehended that Maoists would use the villagers as human shields and would flee to Jharkhand if the state government launches an offensive.

He suggested that the chief minister take the matter up with the Jharkhand government so that West Bengal's border with that state could be sealed.

Pro-naxal tribals, protesting alleged police atrocities on them in the wake of a landmine blast at Salboni in which the Chief Minister and then union ministers including Ramvilas Paswan had a narrow escape in November, have virtually taken control of Lalgarh after forcing police and paramilitary personnel out of the area.

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