On the second day of the chief ministers’ conference in New Delhi, Bhattacharjee requested the Centre to place the state in the grade two of the list.

Bengal is included in grade three at present.

“As we were put in grade three (in the list of Maoist-affected states), it will not be possible for the Centre to pay attention to the Maoist menace in our state.

We have, therefore, asked the Centre to include Bengal in grade two,” Bhattacharjee told the mediapersons.

Earlier, former Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil had struck off Bengal from the list of grade two Maoist-affected states but Home Minister P Chidambaram had put the state back on the list. The state, however, is again missing from the list.

According to the police, Maoist activities in Bengal are confined to the forests of three districts — West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia — bordering Jharkhand. The state Government had claimed that Maoists hailed from Jharkhand and formed an alliance with organised groups in Bengal for operations.