The West Bengal government ordered an inquiry into the killing of All India Gorkha League president Madan Tamang in Darjeeling on Friday.
Monday's Naxalite attack on a joint forces camp in Silda, West Midnapore, has left the West Bengal government red-faced and the Union home ministry livid. At least 24 paramilitary jawans of the Eastern Frontier Rifles were killed last evening.
Ahead of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's meeting with chief ministers of four Naxal-affected states next week, top bureaucrats of these states on Friday held a strategy session here on the roadmap for dealing with the menace.
The West Bengal government said on Friday that the police and intelligence agencies had got information about Maoist leader Kishenji hiding in the state and that he was likely to be arrested soon.
After Maoist leader Kishenji's recent phone call to Environment Secretary M L Meena, the West Bengal government on Tuesday cautioned officials against speaking to leaders of outlawed organisations. "Why should any of our officers talk to Kishenji? We don't need discussions with any leader of an outlawed organisations like the Communist party of India - Maoist," Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen told reporters. Sen, however, ruled out issuing a circular to government officials.
West Bengal Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen, whose statement on Maoist links with the Trinamool Congress put the administration in an uncomfortable position, had more trouble on Tuesday, when a senior minister called for action against him for his remarks.
The anti-Maoist joint operations by Central forces and police at restive Lalgarh in West Midnapore district were not a total success as no major arrest could be made or killings stopped, the West Bengal Government said on Thursday.
Fierce gun battles took place on Monday between the Maoists and combined security forces at three places in West Midnapore district, a day after four Eastern Frontier Rifles jawans were gunned down by the extremists at Gidhni bazar in Kolkata.
The West Bengal government clarified on Tuesday that there was no evidence that writer Mahasweta Devi and film-maker Aparna Sen having Maoist links, a day after saying that those having Maoist connections would be questioned. "There is obviously no evidence of their links with Maoists. Otherwise, they would have been arrested," Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said.
There was nothing unethical about the arrest of tribal leader Chhatradhar Mahato by the police disguised as journalists, a top West Bengal official said on Tuesday.
A group of retired civil servants also called upon the PM to reach out to the families of the victims in Unnao and Kathua and "seek their forgiveness on behalf of all of us".
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