The West Bengal government has decided to take up the issue of the PWG-MCC menace with the Union Government to work out a joint strategy involving the Centre and affected states.Speaking about it, WB Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya said he planned to take up the issue with the Centre to formulate a joint strategy to fight the PWG-MCC forces at the ‘‘inter-state level’’. An inter-state strategy not involving the Centre would be ineffective, hinted the CM.Government sources say that presently the five states — Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal — are ready to sit with the Centre to work out a joint strategy to combat the extremist menace. Incidentally, the CM yesterday hinted that both the PWG and MCC come from Jharkhand and after conducting their operations, they slip back into the state. Apparently, this decision came in the wake of Wednesday’s landmine blast in West Midnapore which eight security personnel dead.State police source feel that ‘‘a joint strategy is the need of the hour as the onset of spring would strip the dense forest of its foliage making the combing operations easier’’. Once the forest turns dense stretching from Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore — a stretch of nine square kilometres — combing operations would ‘‘not only become difficult, but almost impossible,’’ a senior state police officer said.
