Kolkata, July 16: The Maoist action squad members who held sway over Lalgarh for nine long months were residents of West Bengal and Jharkhand, but the operation was masterminded by Nepal-based members of the underground Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties & Organisations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA).
Even more alarming is the fact that a team of around 200 CCOMPOSA members set up bases in jungles of Jharkhand and Bastar in Chhattishgarh to run the show from behind the scenes.
Worst, a substantial number of CCOMPOSA members are still hiding in the jungles of Bastar. This came to light after the intelligence branch (IB) of West Bengal Police intercepted mobile phone calls between the CCOMPOSA and action squad members during ‘Operation Lalgarh’.
IB has alerted its Jharkhand and Chhattishgarh counterparts. In fact, director general of West Bengal Police Bhupinder Singh held a meeting with top Jharkhand Police officers last week to discuss the matter, and initiatives were mooted for coordinated action against Maoists.
Through call interception and interrogation of suspects, IB sleuths have come to understand that CCOMPOSA members frequented Lalgarh and other Maoist strongholds from time to time to monitor the progress of retaining armed control over Lalgarh.
“They conducted bi-monthly meetings at secret places during the nine months when Lalgarh was out-of-bounds for police,” a senior IB official said.
–Agencies