Maoists kill CPI-M leader in West Bengal

West Midnapore (WB), May 17 (ANI): Maoists killed a local Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader in West Bengal's West Midnapore District on Sunday.

Bag, a resident of Tilaboni village of West Midnapore, was kidnapped by suspected Maoists from his house on Saturday night.

The local administration has announced compensation to the kin of the victims.

"We will provide Rupees 300,000 to each family affected by Maoist attacks after June 2009," said Narayan Swarup Nigam, District Magistrate, West Midnapore District.

Meanwhile, Maoists on Sunday put up several banners in the district's Jhargram city, announcing a 48-hour shutdown in five states from May 18.

A shutdown call has been given in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

The Maoists are demanding withdrawal of joint operations by police and paramilitary forces in the Lalgarh and Jangalmahal regions of West Bengal.

Thousands have been killed in Maoist insurgency, which began in the late 1960s. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has described the Maoist threat one of the gravest homegrown threats to India's internal security.

The rebels claim they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers.

They have spread into the rural pockets of 20 of India's 28 states. (ANI)