New Delhi - A Maoist-backed organization of local tribal people has virtually taken over Lalgarh, an area of India's eastern West Bengal
state, and set fire to police camps and offices of the ruling party, news reports said Tuesday.
Hundreds of supporters of the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA) set fire to police camps in the villages of Salboni, Rangarh and Dharampur in the early hours of Monday, the Indian Express newspaper reported.
They also demolished offices of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), a leading partner in West Bengal's ruling leftist coalition.
The locals were accompanied by armed cadres of the CPI-M, which is spearheading the rebellion in the area.
Lalgarh town and adjoining villages in West Midnapore district have seen widespread unrest by local tribes since November when the Maoists supported the formation of the PCPA to organize protests against alleged police atrocities.
Barely 200 kilometres north-west of the state capital Kolkata, Lalgarh has been a virtual no-go area for the local administration since late 2008 and the media has largely been barred.
On Monday, the media was allowed in and television channels showed drumming, dancing villagers celebrating.
PCPA leaders were quoted as saying that they were not responsible for the arson or demolitions but that it was a spontaneous expression of anger.
Most local officeholders of the CPI-M as well as police fled the area before the attacks took place.
At least three CPI-M cadres were killed during the violence and two more were missing, PTI news agency reported.
Three police posts were ransacked and set on fire along with a local office of the CPI-M.
Television channels filmed PCPA members demolishing a new two-storey house belonging to a local CPI-M leader on Monday.
After the demolition, a leader of the Communist Party of India-Maoist, identified as Bikash, gave a press briefing with his back to the camera and an AK-47 rifle slung across his shoulder.
'The ground here is already ready and waiting for us. A child is about to be born and we are playing the role of the nurse who will deliver it,' he said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya called a meeting of top officials to discuss future action in Lalgarh.
Bhattacharya narrowly escaped a landmine blast triggered by the Maoists when he was passing through the area in November 2008, following which, locals allege, the police atrocities increased with illegal detentions and torture.
Maoist guerrillas who operate in 13 Indian states say they are fighting for the rights of the landless, poor and tribal people.
They usually target security personnel and government installations.
According to unofficial estimates, at least 400 people, including rebels, have been killed in Maoist violence since January 2009.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Maoist insurgency as one of the gravest internal security threats facing India.
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