Admitting that little development has been undertaken so far in tribal areas of Bengal, state Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen has said without development, the police operations in Lalgarh are meaningless.

He visited Lalgarh and adjoining areas on Sunday to oversee development work and the police operations. Sen held meetings at Lalgarh police station, Binpur BDO office and later at the circuit house in Midnapore town.

“The operation will continue in Lalgrah, but without development this will not be successful. Lalgarh is far safer than before but there will be some time before normalcy returns,” he said after the meeting.

At present, there are 17 companies of Central and 26 companies of state forces stationed in Lalgrah and adjoining areas.

“We have information that tribal leader Chattradhar Mahato is in the area and we have asked the police to arrest him,” he added.

Later, in Midnapore town, he told mediapersons: “ Development is our priority.

We are providing ration cards, drinking water, opening up schools and developing healthcare infrastructure on an emergency basis. We are stressing on income generation schemes for people in the area, including work for 100 days.”