Kolkata, Jan 26 As the country was celebrating the 77th Republic Day on Monday, concern was triggered in certain pockets of the once Maoist-infested Bankura district of West Bengal following the recovery of Maoist posters.
The posters were mainly recovered from the Taldangra and Onda areas of Bankura district, which had remained strong Maoist hotbeds for several years until around 2011.
Some of the posters were pasted on tree trunks, while others were found at different bus stops in the area. It is presumed that they were pasted late on Sunday night and came to the notice of local villagers on Monday morning.
Significantly, the posters were hand-written in red ink, typical of the style used in public messages issued by left-wing extremist groups.
One of the key messages in the posters was a protest against anti-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh, which were allegedly being carried out by security forces in the name of counter-insurgency measures.
The posters also raised demands for the immediate release of local tribal people who had been arrested or detained by security forces for their alleged involvement in Maoist activities.
In addition, the posters called for justice over the killing of top Maoist commander Madvi Hidma in an exchange of fire with security forces in Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Sitarama Raju district in the Andhra-Odisha border region in November last year.
After receiving information about the recovery of the posters, personnel from the local police stations removed them and took them into custody for examination.
“A probe is on to ascertain whether the posters were actually pasted by members of left-wing extremist groups or by others with vested interests. In such areas, pasting Maoist posters by vested interests is quite common,” a district police official said.
Bankura, along with West Midnapore, Purulia, and Jhargram districts, had remained significant Maoist strongholds for several years until 2011.
However, left-wing extremist groups gradually started losing their grip over these areas after the killing of top Maoist commander Koteswar Rao, alias Kishenji, in a forested area of West Midnapore district in November 2011.
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