Sidhu Soren, the chief of Sidhu-Kanhu Gana Militia, categorically ruled out any talks with Banerjee. “We will not sit with ‘an actress’ like Mamata Banerjee. We have been spearheading the movement for more than a year. Where was she when the police and CPM cadres mercilessly tortured villagers and killed them? After two-three of their partymen were killed, she came here and now she wants a dialogue. This is absurd. Neither will we hold any meeting with her nor will we allow the PCAPA to have talks with her,” said Soren.

Yesterday, Banerjee had said she wanted a dialogue with the PCAPA and the Maoists and had set a seven-day ultimatum. Reacting to offer, PCAPA spokesperson Asit Mahato had said his outfit could join talks if they were brokered by singer-MP Kabir Suman of the Trinamool.

Soren, however, today set conditions for any talks. “We will not talk to them until our demands are accepted. We want the then SP Rajesh Singh who assaulted villagers in November, 2008 to apologise at Dalilpurchawk in Lalgarh. This is an old demand and we stick to it. We do not care which leader is mediating.” “We do not trust Banerjee. She can call the police and get all of us arrested if we meet her for talks. She could not kill us by bullets, now she wants to kill us through politics,” Soren added.