The bullet-ridden bodies of four CPM workers were found dumped on the state highway and Maoist posters strewn around threatened to intensify their bloody campaign if their arrested leaders were not produced before the court immediately.

According to a police officer at the Belpahari Police Station, the victims were identified as Swapan Ahir, Sanatan Ahir, Ashok Ahir and Nazrul Mir. The victims’ hands were tied and the police said it seemed they were severely beaten up before being shot by the Maoists. The bodies were found on the Silda-Bankura road near Anthela village.

Five CPM workers, four from one family, were abducted late last night from their homes by Maoists who allegedly posed as policemen. “The kin of the victims told us that a group of 18 to 20 Maoists, in the guise of police, called out the names of the four members of the family, saying they had been called by the OC of the local police station for interrogation. So, without any hesitation, they went along,” said the police officer.

They had since been missing and their bodies were recovered this morning, said a member of a team of police and paramilitary force that reached the spot today.

The police said Maoist literature and posters strewn near the bodies branded the four as “police informers”.

One of the five abducted CPM workers, Phoolchand Ahir, managed to escape from captivity and reached home this morning.

“We are conducting raids. The bodies would be sent for autopsy,” said West Midnapore SP Manoj Verma.

Meanwhile, a CPM worker was killed in Arsha in Purulia district. According to a police officer, Srikanta Mahato, a CPM worker who used to perform in local theatres, was picked up from his home in Patharadi village in Arsha police station area. His body was found near his house.

In a press statement, a Maoist leader, who identified himself as Akash, said these types of attacks in the Lalgarh-Jhargram belt will go on until the police produce Soma Mandi, one of his colleagues, in court.

In a related development, two suspected Maoists have been arrested from Simlipal village in Bankura. Bankura SP Vishal Garg said, “We picked the two late Thursday night. Today, they were remanded in five days’ custody by a court.”