Interestingly, the duo — Anath Singh (40) and Hiteshwar Singh (35) — who were beheaded, happened to be the sons of CPM leader Gopal Singh who was killed by Maoists in 2007.

“Their decapitated bodies were recovered from Shyamnagar and their heads were found at a distance at Nekra-Anchra area. The Maoists are trying to create a fear psychosis among the locals,” said a senior police officer from the district.

Manoj Verma, Superintendent of Police of West Midnapore district, said: “We have recovered the bodies and have sent them for postmortem. Preliminary investigation points out that Maoists are behind the murders. We have tightened security arrangements in the area.”

According to sources, a Maoist squad raided the duo’s house in Shyamnagar on Saturday night and dragged them out. They started beating the duo and then took them away. The Maoists have accused them of being police informers.

In a separate incident, Jhontu Patra (29), another CPM supporter, was killed in Bamal village. According to the police, the modus-operandi was the same.

The Maoists raided Jhontu’s home on Saturday night and took him away before killing him because he allegedly acted as a police informer.

According to the police, the fourth body, which is of a CPM supporter Shankar, was recovered from Burishol.

The West Bengal Police, meanwhile, is set to strike at the Maoists once again. DGP Bhupinder Singh has gone to Lalgarh to assess the situation.