MHA alerts 4 eastern states on possible Maoist attack in next 15 days

The ministry of home affairs on Tuesday alerted the police of West Bengal and its adjoining three states -- Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha -- on possible rise in Maoist activities in this region in the next fortnight, an official said.

During a meeting of the standing committee of the eastern zonal council held at the state secretariat, senior MHA officials referred to intelligence inputs regarding a possibility of a sudden surge in the activists of the Maoists and issued an alert for the police of the four states.

"The police of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha have been asked to be on high alert regarding a possible Maoist attack within the next 15 days. There are central intelligence inputs in this connection during the said period," a bureaucrat in the state secretariat said.

Some areas of these states were affected by Maoist activities.

Besides senior officials of the MHA, chief secretaries and home secretaries of the four states were present at the meeting.

Maoist posters recently surfaced in West Bengal's Jangal Mahal, the adjoining forested region of Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Bankura and Purulia districts. State DGP Manoj Malviya had toured the area and evaluated the security arrangements there.

At the meeting, Bengal Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi gave details of the prevailing security arrangements in the once Maoist stronghold of Jangal Mahal, the official said.

"He (Dwivedi) also expressed the state's dislike of the Centre withdrawing central armed forces from Jangal Mahal without informing or taking consent of the government," he said.

Discussions were held on erecting barbed wire fencing along the international borders of the four states, the official said.