Bengal determined to drive out armed men from Maoist-infested Jangalmahal

The West Bengal government is determined to drive out armed men from Maoist-infested areas in Jangalmahal and bring back peace, Trinamool Congress MP Subhendu Adhikari said in Jhargram today.

"Let's see how many landmines and bullets these men possess. We will drive them out and bring back those who have fled in fear. Peace and harmony will return," he said addressing a meeting of the Youth Trinamool Congress in Belpahari.

Without directly naming the Maoists, he said that some people were bent on making the situation worse in Jangalmahal by writing inflammatory posters and planting landmines, thereby to scare away people.

"Our leader Mamata Banerjee cannot sit quiet after people voted in her favour," Adhikari said wondering where these people had been when innocents were killed at Nandigram and Netai," he said.

He said he would undertake a padayatra in Jhargram on November 12.

Senior party leaders Mukul Roy and Sisir Adhikary also attended the meeting.

There was a scare before the start of the meeting after a landmine was rumoured to have been found in the Malwati jungle of Binpur. However, the police described it as a 'hoax'.