Task Force to visit Lalgarh today

Lalgarh (West Bengal), June 30 (ANI): A task force will visit Lalgarh and adjoining areas today to study the ground situation a day after security forces captured Kantapahari, the hub of the rebel agitation.

Reconstituted by the West Bengal Government, the force, including eight officers, will visit Lalgarh, Ramgarh, Kantapahari and Pirakata in West Midnapore to supervise development work in the tribal areas.

Later, the force will submit its report to the government, which will then prepare a package for infrastructure development and employment generation.

On Monday, central and state security forces had surrounded the Maoist bastion at Katrapahari.

Nearly 50 villages in and around Lalgarh in West Midnapore district have been declared out of bounds to state authorities since November last year following an attempt on the life of Chief Minister Budhadeb Bhattacharjee and two Union Ministers.

The Maoist backed the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), has since established a virtual control over this area.

The rebels have killed nearly 40 CPM activists. Major search operations are also taking place in Bankura and Purulia. (ANI)