Midnapore, February 23: One person was killed as Maoist-backed PCPA members exchanged fire with combined security forces at Naxalite stronghold Kantapahari in West Midnapore district late on Tuesday night , hours after top CPI(Maoist) leader Kishenji offered a 72-day ceasefire to the Centre and West Bengal.
Superintendent of Police Manoj Verma said armed men of People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) assembled near the Kantapahari camp of the forces and fired, prompting the jawans to challenge them.
In the ensuing gunbattle, one person, believed to be a PCPA member, got killed and his body recovered while others retreated from the spot, the SP said.
“The PCPA members, with a number of Maoists among them, obviously had plans to attack the Kantapahari camp but the jawans were alert and repulsed them,” Mr. Verma said. More forces were despatched.
Unconfirmed reports said the dead person has been identified as Lalmohan Tudu, a PCPA activist. The unofficial reports also did not rule out one or two more casualties on the PCPA side in the gunbattle but no more bodies were found.
—–Agencies