MHA sounds alert on Maoist activities

Kolkata, April 26 (IANS) Senior officials of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs have told the police of the four eastern Indian states -- West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha to remain alert during the next 15 days over possible Maoist activities.

The alert was issued by senior officials of the Union ministry of home affairs at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eastern Zonal Council that took place at the West Bengal state secretariat of Nabanna here on Tuesday.

Besides senior officers of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, the meeting was also attended by the chief secretaries and home secretaries of the four eastern Indian states, among others.

Although, none of the attendees in the meeting was ready to face the media to detail the discussions on the meeting, highly placed sources from the West Bengal government told IANS on the condition of anonymity that as the alerts of MHA officials the next 15 days are extremely crucial for these four states as there are central intelligence inputs of resurgent Maoist activities in the region during that period.

Although there had been no Maoist activities in West Bengal recently, the West Bengal police is worried about the recovery of Maoist posters in the once Maoist stronghold of Junglemahal area scattered over the three districts of Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore.

Even the state police director general, Manoj Malviya had visited the Junglemahal area and reviewed the security arrangements there.

It is learned that in Tuesday's meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eastern Zonal Council, the West Bengal government representatives complained about withdrawal of central armed forces from the erstwhile Maoist bastions without prior discussions with the state government concerned.

The state government also presented the details of the current security arrangements in the Junglemahal area.

In the meeting, the representatives of the West Bengal government also stressed on greater coordination between Border Security Force and local police personnel in the Indo-Bangladesh bordering villages in the state.

The issue of raising barbed fencing at the borders was also discussed.