India Maoist violence escalates

A Communist party office set on fire by villagers in Lalgarh

Communist party offices have been set on fire by villagers in Lalgarh

Three more workers of the ruling party have been killed by suspected Maoist rebels in a troubled part of India's West Bengal state, police say.

This takes the number of Communist party workers killed in clashes with rebels in the Lalgarh area to six. Six other party workers are missing.

Separately, villagers backed by the rebels have blocked roads to prevent security forces from entering the area.

Maoist-linked violence has killed 6,000 people in India over the past 20 years.

The tribespeople-dominated Lalgarh area in West Bengal's West Midnapore district has been under the virtual control of the Maoist rebels since last November.

Over the past few days, villagers backed by the rebels have taken over more villages in the area and burnt down and demolished offices belonging to the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M).

Early on Tuesday morning, three local party workers were killed by suspected rebels who came on a motorcycle and fired on them. The workers were at a local tea shop when the incident happened, the police said.

Separately, villagers have chopped trees and blocked eight access points in Lalgarh to prevent the security forces from entering the area.

This follows reports that the West Bengal government has asked for more than 1,000 paramilitary personnel "recapture" Lalgarh.

The forces have already begun arriving, but it is unclear when they will try to move into the area.

Armed rebels are reportedly patrolling roads after police fled.

'Liberated zone'

The BBC's Amitabh Bhattashali in Calcutta says hundreds of CPI(M) workers have fled the Lalgarh area.

Maoists claimed it as their first "liberated" zone in West Bengal.

One police post was later set ablaze and Maoists were reported to have demolished the house of a local communist leader in Dharampur, the last CPI(M) bastion in Lalgarh.

Other villages in the area had been under Maoist control since November.

Our correspondent says that taking control of Lalgarh is part of a long-term plan for the Maoists.

The area encompasses vast tracts of the forests of West Midnapur, Purulia and Bankura districts of West Bengal and adjoins parts of the states of Jharkhand and Orissa.

Arrests

Lalgarh has experienced considerable unrest for a number of months.

Violence began last November when police arrested some local residents on suspicion of attempting to assassinate West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya after he narrowly escaped a landmine explosion set off by suspected Maoist rebels.

A Peoples' Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) was subsequently formed to protest against the arrests. They launched violent protests and strikes against the local police.

The police and state administration have been virtually non-existent in most of Lalgarh since then. Polling booths could not be set up for recent general elections so people had to vote outside the area.

Our correspondent says the insurgents and the CPI(M), which has been the state's dominant political force, have been fighting a turf war.

In the past few years, he says, the Maoists have extended their influence with guerrilla commanders camping in the area and providing basic military training to local youths.

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