All police stations and Central Reserve Police Force camps in the three Maoist-hit districts of West Bengal have been put on high alert and Railway Protection Force has been asked to keep vigil on trains and tracks ahead of Wednesday's 48-hour Bharat bandh called by ultras.
"Security has been beefed up in the Maoist-hit districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia with police stations and CRPF camps put on high alert," West Bengal DGP Bhupinder Singh told PTI. Asked if there would be deployment of extra forces in the area, Singh ruled out the possibility, but said the existing forces had been kept on high alert to prevent any sabotage attempt.
West Midnapore SP Monoj Verma said Maoists were out to take revenge for the death of their top leader and their party's poliburo member Azad. "We will continue our operation on the basis of the information we have and there will be strict vigilance throughout the district," Verma said.
He said a Maoist suspect Srimanta Singh was detained from Babuidanga in the Salboni police station area in West Midnapore district for interrogation on the eve of the bandh. Maoists have exempted Railways, milk, ambulance and fire services from the shutdown. South Eastern Railway sources said a Quick Response team of the Group Railway Police, Reserve Police Force and CRPF has been deployed on trains and tracks along the Kharagpur-Rourkela and Kharagpur-Adra sections.
Night train services on the two sections remained suspended since May 28 when Jnaneswari Express was derailed in a suspected Maoist operation. The Railways has been keeping a strict vigil on day services on the two vital sections as well where security has been tightened further. The Eastern Railway too introduced special security along the tracks and on board trains running on the Asansol division as a precautionary measure.
