Senior Indian Police Service officer Manoj Kumar Verma was appointed the new Kolkata Police commissioner, replacing Vineet Goyal, on Tuesday, a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with agitating junior doctors and agreed to their demands in a bid to resolve the more than a month-long impasse over the RG Kar hospital incident.
"It is a dastardly attack and I can only tell it has strengthened our resolve to fight against this menace...," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said, when asked about Monday's attack by the Maoists.
The state government has its own security forces like the Eastern Frontier Rifles and was not deploying them, the MHA said.
In a prize catch, the West Bengal police on Tuesday night arrested top Maoist leader Venkateswar Reddy, the suspected mastermind of the attack that killed 24 Eastern Frontier Rifles personnel in Silda in West Midnapore district. Additional Director General of Police of the Criminal Investigation Department Raj Kanojia said Reddy, alias Telugu Dipak, was arrested from Sarshuna on the southern fringes of the city.
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.
Security forces conducting the operation to liberate Lalgarh have cleared 22 of 42 villages in the area of Maoist-backed tribal agitators and were further consolidating their positions, officials said on Monday.
Security forces entered Lalgarh on Saturday to reclaim it from Maoist-backed tribals and were closing in on the police station there. The personnel of paramilitary forces and the state police were just two km away from the Lalgarh police station, which is under Maoist control.
Virtually shielding higher officials from any blame, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Thursday said that failure, if any, was at the camp level leadership when Maoists attacked Silda camp of Eastern Frontier Rifles in which 24 personnel were killed last month.
Ten persons, including a physically-challenged man, were allegedly assaulted by drunk soldiers of the Eastern Frontier Rifles over a petty issue near Rajaramchak High School where a camp had been set up to oversee the law and order situation on Tuesday night.
Three Maoists and a civilian were among those killed when the ultras attacked the Eastern Frontier Rifle camp in West Midnapore district leaving 24 jawans dead, police said on Tuesday.
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.
Four Eastern Frontier Rifles jawans were killed in a surprise assault by Maoists in Gidhni in West Midnapore on Sunday, hours after Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee wrapped up a two-day visit to the violence-hit district. Claiming responsibility for the killings, top Maoist leader Koteshar Rao alias Kishanji dared the central government to deploy as many forces as they wanted in the embattled area.
After Tuesday's Naxal attack on the Central Reserve Police Forces, police forces across the country are likely to see a sharp jump in their insurance premia when their group personal accident policies are renewed. The hike could be in the region of 200-300 per cent, according to insurance firms.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee admitted on Thursday that there was a definite lack of alertness on the part of the forces leading to the massacre of 24 jawans by Maoists in West Midnapore district.
At least 24 paramilitary jawans were killed in the biggest-ever Maoist attack in West Bengal, when ultras overran their camp at Silda in West Midnapore after setting it on fire on Monday, barely a week after Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's meeting in Kolkata to draw up a joint strategy to counter them.
In a surprise attack by the Maoists, four security personnel were killed and their arms looted in Jhargram sub-division of Naxal affected West Midnapore district on Sunday.
The two sides exchanged several rounds of fire since early on Tuesday at Gokulnagar, Ranichak, Bhangaberia and Satengabari areas with the violence still continuing
Fourteen jawans were feared killed when armed Maoists attacked a paramilitary force camp at Sildha in West Midnapore district on Monday evening."According to information available here, nine jawans were burnt to death and five others were shot dead. We are yet to get the detailed figure of the casualty," a source said.District Magistrate N S Nigam said at least 50 Maoists on 25 motorcycles, armed with sophisticated weapons, swooped down on the camp.
Five Eastern Frontier Rifles were among those killed in the landmine blast in Belpahari forest.
Gorkhaland supporters torched a police outpost, a toytrain station and clashed with the police at two places.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances