India policeman refuses to serve

By Subir Bhaumik
BBC News, Calcutta

Maoists have a presence in 182 districts of India

A serving police officer in India's eastern state of West Bengal has refused to command a camp in a jungle region dominated by Maoist guerrillas.

He is reported to have told colleagues he would rather resign than risk his life in the Lalgarh region, one of the most dangerous parts of the state.

Sisir Das was posted to the area 10 days ago during a Maoist attack.

His posting came as the rebels set off a landmine, targeting the convoy of the Indian steel minister.

The minister, Ram Vilas Paswan, was travelling at the time with West Bengal's Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya .

Huge protests

Mr Das was posted to the area to beef up combing operations against Maoist rebels.

He was earlier posted in a relatively peaceful district north of Calcutta.

"He has gone on leave and has now said that he will resign if pushed to take charge of that camp," a police spokesman in West Midnapore told the BBC.

Lalgarh has been hit by huge protests by Santhal tribesmen, who have dug up roads or cut down trees to block traffic .

They allege police atrocities in the wake of the ambush on Mr Paswan's and Mr Bhattacharya's convoy on 2 November when the pair went to Salboni to lay the foundation stone of a huge steel plant being set up by India's Jindal Group.

Five policemen were seriously injured in the ambush.

A tribal party, Jharkhand Disom, organised a strike on Sunday in protest over the police abuse issue.

The strike paralysed life in three Maoist-dominated districts of West Bengal - West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia.

Several policemen have died in Maoist attacks in these three districts in recent years.

But this is the first time a state policeman has refused to do duty in an area dominated by the Maoists.

Sisir Das is reported to have told colleagues his family had pressed him to resign rather than risk his life in Lalgarh. But Mr Das was not directly available for comment.

Ten years ago, a West Bengal armed police platoon, deployed for election time duty in the hilly north-eastern state of Tripura, refused to go on a long route patrol because of the risk of being ambushed by tribal militants.

The police service in West Bengal is highly unionised and critics say that is at the root of such gross acts of indiscipline.

It is not yet clear what action the West Bengal government is contemplating against Sisir Das for his refusal to work in Lalgarh.