Two Maoists were killed and two security personnel of the 10th Naga Battalion seriously injured in an encounter that began shortly after two Trinamool Congress supporters were shot dead by a group of left wing extremists at Ghatbera in the Balarampur area of West Bengal’s Purulia district on Monday evening.
The gun-battle continued through the night till early on Tuesday.
The exchange of fire occurred when the security forces ambushed the Maoist group of about 15 persons, including some women, while it was fleeing Ghatbera after committing the murders.
The encounter signals the launch of a fresh offensive by the joint security forces against the rebels in the Jangalmahal area after nearly five months.
Mamata’s warning
It comes in the wake of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee warning that her government, which had given the Maoists time to respond to its offer for peace, would not wait any longer in the face of Monday’s killings and that joint security operations would be resumed.
“Our forces used mortars and other ammunition, so there could have been more who were injured in the encounter which occurred in a dense jungle,” Gangeshwar Singh, Inspector-General of Police, Western Range, told The Hindu over telephone.