For the first time since November 2008, from when the Maoists began “ruling” Lalgarh, this red-soil hamlet witnessed a huge public rally where Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, echoing Union home minister P. Chidambaram, urged the Maoists to “shun violence first and sit for peace talks”. The August 9 rally, which

Ironic it may sound. But one of the prime accused in the Gyaneswari Express case — who has 1 lakh rupee reward against him announced by the CBI, even mobilised people to the rally of Lalgarh on August 9 in which Union railway minister Mamata Banerjee was the star attraction.

Despite attempts to mobilise the masses to make Monday’s rally a success, Maoists and the Maoist backed People’s Committee against Police Atrocity (PCPA) are facing mixed reactions from the villagers.

With the worst apprehensions of a Maoist attack on the security forces after Monday’s rally and intelligence reports suggesting the same, the state administration is leaving nothing to chances.