Ban Maoists in West Bengal, advices Chidambaram

New Delhi, June 20 (ANI): Chief Minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, has clarified on Saturday that he has been advised by the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to ban the Maoists in the state.

Further, Buddhadeb said that he would give a serious thought to the Home Minister's advice in view of the expanding influence of hundreds of Maoists, who in the past one-week have chased away police and killed government supporters in and around the Lalgarh in West Bengal.

The Maoists even went on to declare this area, predominantly a tribal belt as a 'liberated zone'.

"Chidambaramji also advised me to ban this organisation. I told him as you are telling me, that we have to give this a serious thought. I have started thinking what to do," said Buddhadeb.

He also mentioned that the state police and paramilitary forces had jointly started a campaign against the Maoists and it would take some time to get rid of the Maoist influence as well as menace.

On this score, Bhattacharjee said that Home Minister Chidambaram had assured him of additional federal troops, if needed.

"Chidambaramji assured me, they have already sent 13 companies of CRPF and six companies of BSF and he assured me that if we want he is ready to send more troops," Buddhadeb added. (ANI)