Over a month and Rs 7 crore later, state govt worries about the fate of joint operation even as top Maoists still roam free

A month-and-a-half after the Central and the state police forces launched their joint operations to flush out Maoists from Lalgarh, the state government and the police brass are worried about the success of the operations, with top Naxal leaders still roaming free.

According to a senior government official, the joint operation involving 17 companies of central paramilitary forces and 17 companies of the state police has made little gains even as the state government has already spent around Rs 7 crore in over a month.

The official said Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee too has expressed his concerns.

“Our principal aim was to arrest the 10-12 front-ranking Maoist leaders who are well-entrenched there. For example, Bikash, the Maoist leader who pronounced death sentence on the chief minister is very much there. Even Kishenji often visits the area. But it is a matter of regret that we have not yet been able to arrest any of them. It may either be complacency or something else, which we will have to find out,” a top state government official said.

A meeting has been convened at the Writers’ Buildings on August 6 to make an assessment of the operation and to chalk out future strategy. Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen will preside over the meeting to be attended by top officers of BSF and CRPF, besides the state DGP and West Midnapore SP.

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