'Misuse of central force' charges absurd: Buddhadeb

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Thursday described as 'absurd and baseless' Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's claim that central security forces for anti-Maoist operations were being misused by the Communist Party of India-Marxist.

"The allegations are absurd and baseless," Bhattacharjee said in reply to a supplementary question by CLP leader Manas Bhunia in the assembly.

Based on the law and order situation following the Maoist threat in jungle mahal, central security forces were assisting the state government and their operations were being monitored by IG and DIG level officials of the Central Reserve Police Force, he said.

Rubbishing the allegation of Banerjee who on Wednesday said she was ready to quit if she failed to prove that the CPI-M was misusing central forces, the chief minister questioned how the Marxist party could interfere in the anti-Maoist operations by the CRPF and state police.

On the other hand, he alleged that the Trinamool Congress leaders were regularly meeting Maoist-backed People's Committee Against Police Atrocities in Jhargram and Nayagram in West Midnapore district.

Bhattacharjee, the home minister also denied the allegations of the Trinamool Congress of existence of armed camps of CPI-M cadre in Maoist-hit areas and said he would be happy if specific information was provided while dubbing the allegations as absurd.

Bhattacharjee said that the central forces would stay in the affected areas as long as the Maoists threat existed and the ultras operated from neigbouring Jharkhand and Orissa and the Centre was also thinking along similar lines.

The Maoist problem was not confined to West Bengal alone, he said adding that it also existed in Andhra pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh has well.

Replying to a question by Bhunia, Bhattacharjee said that 79 persons were killed in jungle mahal between July and October this year. Steps have been taken to win the people's confidence in the Maoist-hit areas, while simultaneously taking up development programmes, he said.