One of the cars in the convoy of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee was on Monday night hit by a lorry coming from opposite direction at Kolaghat in East Midnapore district causing minor injuries to her body guard.
Tribal leader Chhatradhar Mahato, who was arrested yesterday near Lalgarh where he had been leading an agitation against alleged police excesses since last November, was today remanded to police custody by a special court till October 1.
Maoists have called for a 24-hour shutdown on Saturday in the five states of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar and Chhattisgarh to protest the killing of their leader Lalmohan Tudu.
While highhanded action by paramilitary and other security agencies has been effective in quelling violence in Lalgarh recently, government sources have told ANI that they are not in favour of using brutal force.
Claiming that the Trinamool Congress is not perturbed over desertions by some leaders, she said politics is a solemn ideology and philosophy and one cannot change these everyday like clothes.
Security forces on Saturday captured key Maoist stronghold of Ramgarh as they launched a two-pronged attack to reclaim areas in West Midnapore district under control of Left-wing ultras who offered stiff resistance by detonating landmines and opening gunfire.
As the operation against Maoists in Lalgarh entered a crucial phase, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P Chidamabaram on Saturday and apprised them of the situation there.
Give the adivasis honour and dignity and the pool of discontent in which the Maoists swim will dry up, writes Nitin Desai
There was no possibility of holding talks with Maoists or tribal group PCPA, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee said on Sunday even as he maintained that law and order in Naxal-infested Lalgarh and adjacent areas has improved but more work needs to be done.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Sunday defended West Bengal government's action in swapping women Maoist supporters with a police officer held captive by the Naxalites and said it did not consider the extremists as Leftists.
In a candid conversation with rediff.com's Indrani Roy Mitra from an undisclosed location late on Wednesday night, Kishanji talked about his party's ideology, the road of violence, problems of tribals in Lalgarh among other things.
School teacher and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Ranjit Duley, kidnapped by the Maoists at gunpoint from a school in Bankura district on March 4, was released unharmed in West Midnapore district early on Tuesday morning, the police said.
Addressing media persons in New Delhi, Chidambaram said: "It was a somewhat bizarre offer. That is because, barely 3 hours after the so-called offer, the CPI (Maoist) attacked a joint patrol party of the West Bengal police and the CRPF in PS Lalgarh, district West Midnapore. The patrol party retaliated and three people were killed."
'The Maoists will not lose ground because of the State. The way they are responding to people's problems is why they will lose ground' feels CPI-ML leader Dipankar Bhattacharya.
It is time for the government to have a re-think on the way we have been dealing with this problem in order to have a tailor-made strategy based on improvement of political management, strengthening rural policing and rural intelligence and developing capacities for rural operations with emphasis on mobile as well as on static security.
Top Maoist leader Koteshwar Rao had suffered a bullet injury in his left leg but is now out of danger, a person claiming to be have treated him said.
Released by Maoists after three days in captivity, police officer Atindranath Dutta hopes the West Bengal government would take steps to trace two police personnel, who were abducted by the ultras on July 30 and are still missing.
Rajeev Kumar, the Kolkata police commissioner, is known for his impeccable investigating and electronic surveillance skills.
Judging by Lalgarh, thirty-two years of unbroken Marxist governance have delivered little or nothing to the ordinary person.
The Centre on Friday asked the Maoists in Lalgarh area of West Bengal to lay down arms and come for talks. Home Minister P Chidambaram said he endorsed the appeal of West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to the Maoists and the tribals to come for talks.
The landmine is believed to have been left there by Naxals.
A quick look at the 66-year-old leader's political journey in the mid-1970s shows how injuries and physical assaults have shaped her political career over the years.
Banerjee has fulfilled two key electoral promises: Ridding Lalgarh of Naxals and bringing peace to Darjeeling
We bring to you some of the best pictures from across the nation in the last one week.
The 1986 batch Odisha cadre IPS officer has been described as a competent officer and is known for his acumen in handling disasters.
'The Naxals started firing indiscriminately.' 'The whole jungle echoed with the sound of bullets.' 'The only thing I heard from that side was 'Chhodna kisi ko nahi (don't let anyone escape)'.'
'The stimulus packages, sector reliefs, loans etc are coming to industry, but state governments have not got any money from GST, no money from excise, no money from any income source.'
'Our Lockdown Life has a sort of schizophrenic, Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde personality about it,' says Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
The wheels turn for bicycles, as manufacturers go back to the basics. After motorised two-wheelers overtook cycle sales in the country, manufacturers are focusing on commuter segment again and reviving entry-level cycles.
Investors can take heart from the first Cabinet meeting in the second innings.
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