Maoists expanding base in Bengal

Kolkata, June 12 (UNI) After making base in three South Bengal districts, the underground Maoists have started infiltrating in North Bengal, working among the workers of closed tea gardens, to expand their netwrok to the strategic area of the state.

According to the officers of the Intelligence Branch(IB) of the state police, the Maoists have been working for the past one year to mobilise these workers under the the banner of Mazdoor Kishan Sangharsh Samity and are also recruiting local youths for guerilla training.

The IB has reportedly submitted a report to the state Home department warning against the development which is likely to cause anxiety in the administration, already having been kept on the toes in dealing with armed militancy by this underground outfit in West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts.

The advantage the Maoists were trying to take was that of stark poverty and unrest prevailing among the unemployed tea garden workers as it was the case in the remote and backward areas of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia, bordering Jharkhand.

The areas the Maoists had primarily zeroed in for strengthening base were Malkani, Kalchini, Bamandanga and Raymatang in Jalpaiguri district where a high-power cell had been asked to expand network among the tea garden workers, the sources said.

The area the Maoists ideintified to make a new foray in the state was signficant because of its proximity to Bangladesh and Bhutan, they said.

Police recently stumbled on some secret Maoist documents from a house at Malkani. They also recovered leaflets through which the Maoists called for joint movement of workers and farmers, the sources said.

The IB also received information that the Maoists were planning to hold a secret meeting in the area to elaborately chalk out their strategy and style of operation in the area, the sources said.

UNI