Suspected ‘Maoists’ arrested from Trinamool-controlled guest house
By IANSMonday, January 31, 2011
KOLKATA - Two suspected Maoists said to be involved in the attack on a paramilitary force camp last year were arrested from a guest house of the Trinamool Congress-run Midnapore municipality in West Bengal Monday.
Several journalists were injured, one of them seriously, when police rained canes on a mob which allegedly tried to prevent the police from carrying out the arrests, said West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee here.
The arrested duo, Asim Mahato and Amiya Mahato, were involved in the rebel attack on the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) camp at Silda, 30 km from Midnapore town, killing 24 EFR personnel Feb 15, 2010, police said.
Expressing regret over the injury to journalists, Bhattacharjee said: They sustained cane injuries when some people tried to prevent the police from arresting the two.
He said police have been instructed to probe the incident and file a report.
Action will be taken once the report is received, he said.
The chief minister also said that the government will take full responsibility for the treatment of the injured journalists.
Sharply criticising the police for the raid on the guesthouse, Trinamoool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee described police claims of arresting two suspected Maoists as a cock and bull story.
Some women driven away from their homes were sheltered in the guest house. Police barged into the camp and tortured the women. Seven or eight journalists are in the hospital. An undeclared curfew is on in Midnapore town, she claimed.
