Maoists attack government offices in three Indian states

New Delhi - Maoist rebels attacked offices and in three Indian states as their general strike to protest police actions in in eastern West Bengal entered the second day Tuesday. Guerrillas razed the office of West Bengal's ruling party in Jhargram, about 50 kilometres away from Lalgarh where security forces are carrying out an operation to flush out rebels, late Monday. They also attacked a party office in Burrabazar area of Purulia district, north of the district of West Midnapore where Lalgarh and Jhargram are located. On Tuesday, the rebels blew up a mobile telephony tower in Gaya district of neighbouring Bihar state and left posters saying they avenging the police action in Lalgarh. In Jharkhand, which borders Bengal and Bihar, Maoists blew up a local government office in Palamau district. The situation in Lalgarh, about 200 kilometres west of West Bengal's state capital Kolkata, remained tense as security forces moved around villages in small groups searching out and evacuating civilians, Times Now television channel reported. The villages were nearly empty, with residents either at relief camps set up by the government or having joined Maoist rebels. A humanitarian crisis was looming, NDTV news channel reported, as villagers fled their homes and supply networks were cut off by the fighting. Maoist guerrillas were willing to talk to the state government if the troops in Lalgarh area were withdrawn, Times Now reported quoting Gaur Chakrabarty, a spokesman for the Communist Party of India -Maoist, as saying. The spokesman's comments came a day after the federal government put the CPI-Maoist on a list of banned organizations and the security forces prepared for a final move into the rebel-controlled area. Tribal villagers backed by the Maoists claimed to have 'liberated' the Lalgarh region in November, and made it into a virtual no-go zone for the state police and administration. The recent police action came after Maoist rebels and their tribal supporters killed at least 10 members of the state's ruling communist party and setting fire to its offices and police posts. The Indian government had banned separate factions of the Maoists before the groups came together under the banner of the CPI-Maoist in 2004. Maoist guerrillas, who operate in 13 of India's 29 states, say they are fighting for the rights of the landless, poor and tribal people. According to unofficial estimates, more than 3,000 people including rebels have been killed in Maoist violence in India since January 2005.