India intensifies Maoist battles

Fierce gun battles are raging in dense forest as Indian security forces close in on Maoist guerrillas in the state of West Bengal, officials say.

Authorities say they have consolidated their grip on several Maoist enclaves including Lalgarh district, which the rebels had briefly controlled.

Last week security forces launched a determined campaign to retrieve territory and re-impose control.

The insurgents had almost total control of Lalgarh from November 2008.

The state government launched its operation after Maoist rebels drove out local police from their remaining posts there earlier this month.

Maoist resolve

Praveen Kumar, the officer leading the operation against the Maoists, told the BBC that fighting between security forces and insurgents had continued unabated for hours.

He said the Maoists set off at least 12 landmines, but said there were no injures among security personnel.

It was not known if the Maoists suffered any casualties.

The BBC's Subhir Bhaumik in Calcutta says the Maoists are determined to continue fighting and say will never lay down arms - a demand consistently made by the state government.

"We will remain engaged in battles against this terrorist state that uses people's money to arm itself to teeth," a Maoist spokesman said in a statement.

The BBC's Amitabha Bhattasali was with the security forces that entered Katapahari - the last Maoist outpost targeted by security forces.

"The locals reacted cautiously after the forces entered Katapahari," our correspondent said.

He described how police searched the house of a local doctor, who police believe has been treating injured Maoists.

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

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Maoists as the greatest threat to India's internal security.

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