Not Maoist, but Marxist menace in Bengal: Mamata

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has said there are no Maoists in West Bengal. Addressing a press conference in Kolkata on Thursday, Banerjee claimed there are about 200 camps of the Communist Party India-Marxist, which have unleashed violence across the state.

Criticising Operation Green Hunt launched by the Union government and the affected states, Banerjee said the operation is being carried out to suppress or kill rural folk in the area.

"The operation is being carried out in the name of a joint operation. There are no Maoists in this region. There are 200 camps of the CPI-M operating in the area. Why would the CPI-M be involved in a government operation? Government operation is an administrative operation. I have doubts about the operation itself," she said.

She demanded the arrest of West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee alleging that he had misused his powers under the Constitution.

"Why should not any action be taken against him because of his politics of individual killings and mass murder? I feel it is my social responsibility to say so," she added.

Green Hunt is a joint exercise conducted by the central paramilitary and state police force to track down and flush out Maoists from their camps in forest regions.

Image: Mamata Bannerjee