…but PCAPA will protest it

“We vehemently protest against the proposed rally. She is trying to fish in troubled waters. We will never allow it to happen,” Mahato said.

“On one hand,she is supporting the UPA government which is conducting the joint operation responsible for so many deaths in the Jungalmahal and on the other hand,she is coming to Lalgrah to show sympathy for innocent villagers. She is playing double standard,” he said.

He said 71 PCAPA members had been killed and 200 more injured,and neither the government nor the Trinamool Congress had done anything.

He accused the CPM and the joint forces of torturing villagers in the Lalgarh area.

Meanwhile,in Jungalmahal

* Suspected Maoists killed a Trinamool Congress supporter in Kandungri village under Sankrail police station in West Midnapore district. The bullet-ridden body of Hemanta Mahato was found near the village. Maoist posters found near his body claimed that he was collecting money from people by claiming himself to be Maoist supporter.

* A former MCC member was killed by unidentified people in Banspahari village under Belphari police station in West Midnapore. Nayan Singh Sardar (55),against whom several cases are pending,was recently granted bail. SP (Jhargram) Praveen Tripathi said Sardar was killed because of the “infighting among various factions of the Maoists” in the area. According to locals,Sardar had recently become the target of CPM-backed Maoist resistance committee.

* The Maoists set the beat office of Forest department at Matha on fire on late Saturday night. No casualty has been reported. About 30 Maoists reached the beat office and set the building on fire,said locals. The office was completely gutted in the fire. The Maoists are observing Black Week in Purulia over alleged deforestation. According to the locals,the Maoists targetted the forest office,as local CPM cadres allegedly take shelter in these offices to escape attacks from the Naxal.

* Residents of Nischinta village in Jhargram on Saturday night caught hold of one Sushil Mahato,a Maoist,when the latter along with his cadres asked the villagers to join a rally. In the morning,the villagers called the police to hand Mahato to them. They,however,at first,asked the police to set up a camp in the village saying that their action would invite Maoist wrath. When the police said that they would not be able to set up a camp in the village and instead increase patrolling,the villagers refused to hand over Mahato and instead set him free. “We will look for the people who did not hand over the suspected Maoist to the police,” said Praveen Tripathi,SP of Jhargram.