Three bodies found,forces tone down claim on Kishenji

In a separate incident,two CPI-Maoist leaders,Prasanta Patra and Sanatan Pal,were arrested by the joint forces and produced before court today. They were remanded to police custody till April 4. The two are considered to be senior squad members who were active in Belpahari and Banspahari region,according to the West Midnapore SP.

Meanwhile,conflicting reports about Kishenji circulated through the day with some in the security setup saying he had once again given the slip to the police.

“We are not sure where he is. We are trying our best to track him down,” said West Midnapore SP Manoj Verma.

Kishenji was suspected to be present in the Hatishol forest area on Thursday,where security forces and the Maoists fought fierce gunbattles.

Some others in the joint security forces believe Kishenji might have been injured in Thursday’s gunbattle but his comrades have managed to move him out of danger.

Official sources said INSAS rifles stolen from the Silda camp were used on Thursday by Maoists as they took on the joint forces. “They have considerable fire power now. On Thursday,they held up the security forces for a day using INSAS rifles,which we believe were the ones stolen from Silda. We had to use mortar shells against them,” said a senior officer of the state police.