It all started on November 2, 2008 when Maoists made an attempt on the life of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee — a land mine ripped off a vehicle of his convoy. Moments later, his car went past the incident spot near Bhadutala in the Salboni police station area. What followed was a massive operation by the police where the tribals claimed their women had been assaulted during raids on November 4 at Lalgarh — nearly 40 km away from the blast site.

The police arrested school students and locals from Lalgarh for their alleged involvement in the blast. The tribals began an agitation to not allow the police to enter the Lalgarh area. The agitation gradually spread to various parts of the district, particularly to Jhargram sub-division, Goaltore, Salboni, Sarenga in Bankura and in the forest areas of Purulia in the first week of November.

The tribals demanded an unconditional apology from district police superintendent Rajesh Singh and closure of the police camps at Lalgarh and Ramgarh. The movement took a new turn on November 21 after a press statement from Kanchan — state secretary of CPI(Maoists). According to Kanchan, Maoists supported the tribal agitation in Lalgarh and they would convert the same into a bigger one in the forest areas of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia.

Chhatradhar Mahato, a local youth from Lalgarh, came up as a leader of the tribals in November last week and a committee was formed called the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA). The emergence of Mahato established the direct involvement of Maoists with the PCAPA — Mahato is the younger brother of Sasadhar Mahato, the most wanted Maoist.

According to police, Sasadhar has been operating from Belpahari and Binpur for long. He was responsible for several killings in the last few years, said West Midnapore SP Manoj Verma.

On November 30, the PCAPA gave a deadline of 24 hours to the Lalgarh police to remove their camps. On December 1, the West Midnapore district police closed down two police camps at Lalgarh Ramakrishna High School and Lalgarh Saradamoni Girls’ High School.

On December 7, tribals from the Lalgarh area temporarily withdrew their agitation after signing an agreement with the district administration. But Chhatradhar warned that the movement would continue as the administration had not met their demands — the SP would have to visit Lalgarh and apologise for police excesses on the tribals.

Meanwhile, the Maoist outfit reportedly moblised armed cadres in the Lalgarh area and the CPM allegedly formed resistance committees in various areas of Binpur and Belpahari to counter them. During the agitation, Sudhir Mandi, who played an important role in anti-Maoist protests in Belpahari, was shot dead at West Midnapore's Jordanga on December 11.

This was the first killing by the suspected Maoists during the Lalgarh episode.

The Maoists continued to kill CPM cadres at Lalgarh, Salboni, Binpur and Belpahari. From January to April 2009, 14 people were killed in West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia. The state government, meanwhile, announced various development projects for the affected areas to woo tribals.

As the Lok Sabha elections were scheduled for April, the government did not initiate police operation against the Maoists. The CPI(Maoist) gave a call for vote boycott during election in West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia. Voters in Lalgarh and Banspahari in West Midnapore boycotted the poll.

After the election, the Maoists and PCAPA organised their movement to remove remaining police camps from Lalgarh and its adjoining areas.

On May 3, thousands of tribals — carrying shovels, axes and hammers and led by CPI(Maoist) cadres — demolished a police camp at Kalaimuri near Lalgarh. On May 23, the Maoists forced six CPM cadres to walk for 8 km after being garlanded with shoes at a people's court held at Salboni’s Madhupur village. A total of 32 CPM men were forced to quit the party in a similar manner.

On June 15, PCAPA cadres demolished the palatial house of a CPM leader, Anuj Pandey, with crowbars and hammers at Lalgarh. Maoist leader Bikash claimed his outfit was leading the tribal agitation. The PCAPA members ransacked several police outposts, offices of the CPM and the house of a local leader.

On June 16, the CPM party office was set on fire when the CPI(Maoist)-backed PCAPA held a “victory” rally at Lalgarh.

Following such developments, the Central government agreed to deploy paramilitary forces and the state government decided to carry out the Central-state joint operation in the area. On June 18, the Central-state joint forces launched counter-offensive to oust the Maoists.

Meanwhile, Kishenji appeared before mediapersons at Lalgarh and said Maoists would establish a free-zone there. As the state launched a counter-offensive against CPI(Maoist), the Maoists killed four CPM activists — including a local leader at Goaltore — when joint operations started to proceed from Midnapore town.

The joint forces succeeded in taking control over Lalgarh on June 29. Around 1,600 personnel of the paramilitary forces, police and Cobra reached Kantapahari from Lalgarh and Ramgarh, and established its control over the area. The forces faced resistance on various occasions during the 12-day operation to capture Lalgarh. Maoists opened fire from the forests and triggered landmine blasts on several occasions.

During the joint operation, the Maoists retaliated by killing two CPM cadres at Sirsha village — 25 km from Lalgarh — on July 10. A squad of around 50 armed CPI(Maoist) cadres, including women armed cadres, reportedly held a procession and people’s court in the village, along with PCAPA members. The 12 CPM supporters were summoned to the court.

Gurucharan Mahato and Baren Mahato — local CPM leaders — were killed. The remaining were brutally assaulted and forced to quit the party. As the joint operation continued, Maoists continued to kill CPM cadres. According to CPM district committee of West Midnapore, 57 CPM activists have been killed since the operation.

On the other hand, six activists of Jharkhand Party (Naren) were killed allegedly by CPM cadres, as they supported the PCAPA movement, said Chunibala Hansda, party MLA from Binpur. Two activists of Jharkahan Janamukti Morcha were killed at Binpur in September.

According to the police, over 110 people — more than 90 civilians, seven security personnel and 10 Maoists — were killed this year in connection with the Maoist violence in West Bengal. Recently, six more companies of paramilitary forces reached West Midnapore as the state government intensified the joint operation in the forest areas of Goaltore, Salboni and Lalgarh. According to a CPM leader, Maoists are desperate to capture Goaltore and Salboni.

The Maoist activity had come to the surface in the forest area of West Midanpore, Bankura and Purulia in 1999-2000. They allegedly killed CPM leaders Sudhir Singh Sardar, Baridbaran Mondal, Rampada Majhi, Rabi Das, Anil Mahato, Palaram Tudu and Rabindranath Kar and his wife between 2001 to 2005.

According to a report of the Union Home ministry that was prepared in 2006, 12 police stations have been affected by the Maoists. Now, the Maoists are active in 18 police stations in these three districts.

In West Midnapore, Maoists are active in the police stations of Jhargram, Binpur, Belpahari, Lalgarh, Salboni, Jamboni, Goaltore, Sankrail. Their presence has also been noticed in Gopiballavpur, Nayagram and other areas of West Midnapore. A total of 37 companies of security forces — including 23 Central paramilitary forces — continue with its offensive to oust the Maoists from West Midnapore.