New Delhi - Indian security forces arrested several top
Maoists and pushed an offensive against the rebels in the state of
West Bengal despite a Maoist ceasefire offer, media reports said
Wednesday.
Twenty Maoist militants including Gour Chakraborty, spokesman for
the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist, were arrested by late
Tuesday night, the NDTV network reported.
Chakraborty, who was questioned by police in state capital
Kolkata, appeared before a local court which remanded him to police
custody until July 6, the report said.
Before his capture, Chakraborty told news channels that the
Maoists were ready for a ceasefire and talks with the government,
provided the negotiations were held under the mediation of civil
society groups.
But the state government asked police and paramilitary forces to
continue the offensive to flush out Maoists from Lalgarh town, some
200 kilometres west of Kolkata.
Over 1,500 troops were deployed in Lalgarh town and its adjoining
cluster of villages which Maoists and tribal villagers claimed to
have 'liberated' over the past week.
'If they want to end the hostilities, they should surrender in the
first possible security camp ... talks can be held later,' a
paramilitary officer told the PTI news agency.
Security forces said they had taken control of half the 42
villages that were dominated by Maoists and their tribal allies.
Meanwhile, a humanitarian crisis was looming in the region with
thousands of villagers fleeing from their homes. Women and children
were virtually on a meal a day, with no essential supplies available
since the stocks ran out.
The state government, which promised to resume relief by Wednesday
evening, was planned to distribute rice and other foodstuffs to be
sold at subsidized rates.
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.
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