Kolkata ,March 26: The police on Friday claimed to have entered and taken control of a stretch of seven km of forest in the Lalgarh area where it had a major encounter with the Maoists on Thursday. While four Maoists were arrested, the rest managed to flee. A combing operation has been launched in the Lalgarh area to track down the Maoists, sources said.

Following the interrogation of the arrested rebels it was revealed that the fleeing Maoists had also managed to take away the injured and the dead. As per information trickling in, the police suspect that one Maoist died during the encounter. The police is also working on information that elusive Maoist politburo member Kishenji, injured in the 12-hour long gun battle, has managed to escape. When asked, top officials refused to come on record on the issue. "We are investigating," DGP Bhupinder Singh said.

"We had information that a large number of Maoists were camping in a forest near Agnasuli village in Lalgarh area," a police official said. The Maoists were holding a meeting inside a forest in the southern part of Laxmanpur, Lalgarh area, on Thursday when the security forces closed in. The Maoists immediately opened fire and the forces had to retaliate," the police claimed.

"Of the four arrested, two have been identified as hardcore members of the Dharampur Maoist squad. The identity of the other two is yet to be ascertained," a senior police official said.

Monalisa Chaudhuri