| blood-soaked soil | |
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Police officers inspect the spot where the jawans were gunned down on Sunday evening. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya | |
Maoist attacks on police/ paramilitary forces in West Midnapore | |
February 2004: Seven policemen and a driver killed when an improvised explosive device blew up a jeep in the jungles of Kankrajhor October 2004: Six EFR jawans killed in an explosion in Bankisole forest in Lalgarh while they were crossing a culvert February 2006: Two policemen killed when a vehicle was blown up at Hatidoba in Belpahari | April 2008: Two policemen shot dead by Maoists robbing a bank at Doijuri in Binpur May 2008: An EFR jawan and two policemen shot dead in an ambush in Jhargram town October 2009: Two police officers killed in attack on Sankrail police station from where OC Atindranath Dutta was abducted |
I WONDER : IS THE LAST EXCUSE ACCEPTABLE ?
Midnapore, Nov. 8: Maoists today shot dead four paramilitary personnel in West Midnapore’s Gidhni on the Jharkhand border, hours after the chief minister vowed to run the rebels out of the state at a rally 110km from the spot.
“The Maoists struck when six EFR (Eastern Frontier Rifles) jawans were patrolling Gidhni bazaar. They surrounded the jawans and started firing, killing four on the spot,” a senior police officer said.
Surajit Kar Purakayastha, the inspector-general of police, law and order, said: “An encounter took place and the two other security personnel present opened fire. The exchange continued for about 10 minutes before the Maoists retreated into the jungle. While retreating, they took the weapons of the slain jawans.”
Maoist leader Kishanji claimed responsibility. “Our purpose today was to loot the arms and we were successful. This is part of our class struggle and it will continue. The chief minister is repeatedly calling us murderers and killers. Today’s killings are a reply to that,” he said.
The killings came on the final day of the chief minister’s two-day visit to West Midnapore, following the murders of three members of an anti-Maoist outfit on Saturday.
For the chief minister, the third biggest killing of security personnel in Bengal would be more telling as he said at a public meeting at Debra earlier in the day: “We will drive the Maoists out of Bengal.”
The four killed were identified as Naresh Thapa, 45, Than Kumar Viswakarma, 50, Vinod Tamang, 45, and Bhakta Bahadur Limba, 35.
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Police said that around 5.50pm, six EFR jawans walked up to Gidhni bazaar from their camp office, 100 metres away. “Three youths in their thirties dressed like ordinary villagers struck up a conversation with Tamang and Limba when they were standing near a cycle shop. Suddenly, they took out their guns and opened fire, killing them on the spot,” said an officer.
By that time another group of Maoists had accosted Thapa and Viswakarma who were standing beside an automobile shop. “The youths fired at the duo,” the officer added.
The two other jawans who were at a distance in a lane opened fire on the Maoists. Reinforcements were despatched from the camp and the gun battle between the jawans and the Maoists lasted about 10 minutes before the rebels backed off.
A betel shop owner was struck in the crossfire and was admitted to the Jhargram sub-divisional hospital with bullet wounds in a leg.
Loman Hossain, the officer in charge of Jamboni, the police station under which Gidhni falls, said the Maoists took away two AK-47 automatic rifles, one SLR gun, one Insas rifle and some cartridges from the slain jawans.
Police officers who visited the spot said the safety catches of the automatic weapons of the jawans were not open, which was why they could not retaliate instantly. 
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