While the recent incident in which Naxals in Jharkhand beheaded a police inspector, Francis Induwar, has triggered a nationwide outrage, brutality is the order of the day in Lalgarh where Maoists have ruthlessly killed their rivals over the past few months. A school teacher was recently shot dead in front of children and in another incident, the body of a person killed by Maoists was put for public display for six days.

West Midnapore SP Manoj Verma, who is leading the joint state-Central operations in Lalgarh, says Maoists resort to such brutalities to strike fear among the people. “After the Jharkhand incident, everybody is talking about it, but here in Lalgarh, such things have been going on for months now. We are trying to target Maoists and drive them away from the core areas. They are trying to keep the people in their fold by display of brutality,” said Verma. Here are some horror stories:

Death of a teacher
On September 14, Maoists entered Jamda High School around 11.15 am. Classes were on and Kartyk Mahato (38), a para-teacher, was standing near the school building. Outside, mid-day meal was being cooked. Kartyk was the only teacher present at that time. As five Maoists opened fire at him, an injured Kartyk limped his way inside the classroom and hid behind the benches. Soon, Maoists followed him into the classroom, asking the screaming children to vacate the school. Kartyk was then dragged outside and shot a number of times in full view of the schoolchildren. His fault: he was a CPM supporter.

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