The presence of a large number of Maoists informers among the villagers in and around Lalgarh has been identified as one of the main reason for the failure of the joint security operations in the area. State Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said this on Wednesday.

Sen, who is going to Midnapore on August 21 to take stock of the situation, said: “The Maoists have a large number of conduits among the locals who inform them of the forces’ movement. In fact, getting cooperation from the local people has been very difficult. These days almost everybody has a cellphone and passing on the information is easy.”

“But we have also thought of solutions for these problems and they will soon be used,” he added.

To flush out the Maoists, about Rs 40 lakh is being spent everyday on the operation that began on June 18. Meanwhile, security forces arrested a middle-ranking leader of the Maoists, Sushil Mahato, near Piraguri. With this, a total of 65 people have been arrested since the operation was launched.

Sen said Chhatradhar Mahato, the leader of PCAPA, was not being arrested for tactical reasons. “We will arrest him later. Right now it is not that necessary,” he said.

He also said that the Centre has extended the deadline for keeping the Central forces at Lalgarh till September 4. “But the mission cannot be completed so early. It’s a long process. Let’s see what can be done,” the home secretary added. ENS

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