Indian troops advancing on Maoist strongholds drew fire on Friday in the first skirmish between the insurgents and the ruling Marxist authorities of West Bengal state, officials said. "We are caught in a gunbattle," police Inspector General Raj Kanojia said as gunfire erupted outside the insurgent bastion of Lalgarh (Red Fort), some 130 kilometres (80 miles) from Kolkata, capital of the eastern Indian state.
"It is a trap," Kanojia said as troops and policemen attempting to evict Maoist guerrillas from hundreds of local villages returned fire. It was not immediately known if either side sustained casualties in the gunfire. West Bengal Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen advised journalists to stay away from Lalgarh and said helicopters were being deployed to spot possible Maoist gun positions.
"Some of the Maoist leaders seem to have escaped our dragnet," Sen said in Kolkata, adding that thousands of civilians had also fled the area fearing attacks from either side. About 1,800 state and federal troops have been deployed to quell the rebellion that began on Sunday when Maoists and tribal villagers went on the rampage against the state's ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM).
Police say 10 CPM activists had been killed by Thursday and that security camps and party offices have also been burnt down. Militants earlier Friday blew up a bridge in Bhimpur village near Lalgarh to ward off approaching troops, witnesses said. Villagers have also blocked all entry points into Lalgarh.
"More paramilitary troopers and policemen have been requisitioned," added Senator Political analysts say the stand-off was a do-or-die attempt by Maoists and other regional parties to try and remove the CPM from West Bengal where it has ruled for the past 32 years. The Marxists faced a humiliating rout in national elections which ended last month.
They have also fallen foul of India's ruling Congress party. In New Delhi, Home Minister P. Chidambaram warned soldiers should "expect the unexpected" as they try to restore calm, and he stressed that Maoists, not local residents, were the security forces' target.
"The operation is to establish civil authority and re-open police stations," he said, warning that anti-insurgency operations could spread to neighbouring districts. Officials said a dozen villagers had been arrested for throwing stones and opening fire on security forces, and soldiers used teargas and rubber bullets to disperse angry crowds.