Three CPI(M) activists, including a local leader, were shot to death allegedly by the armed Left wing ultras at a tea stall in the Jangalmahal early Sunday. Another was injured in the firing which took place at Salboni in West Midnapore.
Condemning the Maoist attack, governor M.K. Narayanan said on the sidelines of a programme in Kolkata, “In Maoism there is an element of ideology but I feel that the human beings should not be killed. It is the most unfortunate incident.” The CPI(M) has called a 12-hour-bandh at Salboni on Monday in protest of the triple murder.
At around 7.30 am, a gang of at least eight rebels in four motorcycles went to a tea stall at Rameshwarpur village, said superintendent of police (West Midnapore) Manoj Kumar Verma. While some of them stood outside, others stormed the stall and opened firing on the CPI(M) activists who were then sipping tea, preliminary investigations revealed.
Karamchand Mahato, the leader and two party workers — Uttam Singh and Kashiram Palmal — fell prey to the bullets on the spot, Mr Verma added.
Another Shambhu Samanta received injuries on hands in the firing. He was rushed at Midnapore Medical College and Hospital from where he was shifted to Kolkata for treatment.
Official sources revealed that a local Maoist action squad Rakhal had led rebels to carry out killings after keeping an watch on the CPI(M) activists regularly coming out of a local school building which the Trinamul Congress alleged to be a CPI(M) harmad (armed) camp.
Of the victims Karamchand, a resident of Mathurapur was away from home for a long time after receiving threats from the rebels, sources disclosed.
Accusing rebels and Trinamul Congress of the killings, Left Front chairman Biman Bose claimed, “Sometimes Maoists are carrying out attacks separately while on the other time they are doing it in nexus with the Trinamul Congress. This has put the democracy in great danger.”
He added that the CPI(M) will continue its campaign to expose the “nexus”. Rejecting the charge of Mr Bose, district Trinamul Congress chairman Mrigen Maity claimed, “Uttam, Kashiram and Shambhu were outsiders. They originally hailed from Keshpur and Anandapur.” He alleged the triple murder was the outcome of a feud among the four harmad over money. At 10 am, joint forces personnel from a nearby police camp rushed to the spot. The bullet-ridden bodies were recovered and sent for post-mortem.