Forces tread cautiously,face mine,bullets

Late in the evening,with apprehensions of a Maoist ambush in the thicket believed to be the rebels’ old favourite,the CRPF’s crack anti-Naxal CoBRA commandos were unleashed on their first true mission. Sweeping raids were expected through the night.

The remote-controlled landmine blast occurred soon after dusk,around 6 pm,near the Pirakata police outpost,which was set up as an operational base for state and central security forces yesterday.

The injured policemen were being treated by paramilitary doctors,and DIG Praveen Kumar said he believed they were out of danger. A team of doctors from Midnapore district hospital was headed to the spot. Some hours after the landmine blast,Lalgarh police station was attacked. The CRPF jawans in the building returned fire,said a senior police officer. No other details were available.

Through the evening,reports came in of several blasts on the road to Lalgarh. Culverts appeared to have been targeted,and at least two were badly damaged.

Earlier in the day,armed squads fired on the advancing forces at several places.

A major attack came at around 4.30 pm,just as they were approaching Bhimpur. Abandoning the restraint they had demonstrated yesterday,police and paramilitary forces fired back. Casualties if any,were not immediately known.

A combing operation similar to yesterday’s followed. Security forces entered village homes and pulled out and thrashed residents,including women. The Maoists would not be able to operate without local ground support,they reportedly told the villagers.

At Puldiha,close to the site of the encounter between the Maoists and village resistance groups,the security forces pounced on villagers returning home with their cows.

Force commanders were believed to be working Friday on a strategy to deliberately slow the pace of the advance,with the intention of wearing out the patience of the Maoists.

Said a senior CRPF official: “The ground we have already covered need to be sanitized properly before we move ahead.” The Pirakata landmine explosion took place at a spot already cleared by the security forces,at their back.

In Kolkata,West Bengal home secretary Ardhendu Sen said eight companies of central forces have already moved into the operational zone,and three more companies were on the way. Reinforcements may be sought if necessary,he added.

In New Delhi,Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said the Maoists had “entrenched themselves over a period of six months” at Lalgarh,but the operation was “so far going according to the plan”.

An operation of this nature would take “some more time than anticipated”,Chidambaram said. “The forces must expect the unexpected.” They were moving “cautiously”,appealing to the public through loudspeakers and distributing handbills to tell them that the operation was not against them.

The Home Minister said the state government had been advised to take the lead in the operations,and that they had heeded to the Centre’s advice. Chidambaram also said he endorsed Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s willingness to talk with the CPI(Maoist). “I endorse that appeal. The Centre would be happy to facilitate any such talks,” he said.