May take more time than anticipated, expect the unexpected: Chidambaram

A relatively uneventful second day of security operations ended in a blaze of firing and explosions as night fell in Lalgarh’s ‘liberated zone’ on Friday.

The Maoists drew blood, setting off a landmine blast that destroyed a police jeep and injured two constables. Lalgarh police station, now a CRPF base, came under heavy fire, and several culverts on the road to the Maoist stronghold lay in ruins.

At sundown, the major portion of the force was stationed at Bhimpur, some 3 km before a patch of forest at Jhitka, having progressed slowly to within 8 km of Lalgarh.

Late in the evening, with apprehensions of a Maoist ambush in the thicket believed to be the rebels’ old favourite, the CRPF’s crack anti-Naxal CoBRA commandos were unleashed on their first true mission. Sweeping raids were expected through the night.

The remote-controlled landmine blast occurred soon after dusk, around 6 pm, near the Pirakata police outpost, which was set up as an operational base for state and central security forces yesterday.

The injured policemen were being treated by paramilitary doctors, and DIG Praveen Kumar said he believed they were out of danger. A team of doctors from Midnapore district hospital was headed to the spot.

Some hours after the landmine blast, Lalgarh police station was attacked. The CRPF jawans in the building returned fire, said a senior police officer. No other details were available.

Through the evening, reports came in of several blasts on the road to Lalgarh. Culverts appeared to have been targeted, and at least two were badly damaged.

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