The home ministry has withdrawn two battalions of CRPF from Jungle Mahal and shifted the units to Chhattisgarh, the move coming as a surprise for the state administration as there have been intelligence reports of Maoist regrouping in the area in the last few months.
The companies of the two battalions were posted in strategic locations in Purulia, Bankura and Jhargram.
The order reached the Bengal headquarters of the CRPF late on Thursday evening with a directive to release battalion Nos. 50 and 165 within November 20. The Bengal headquarters was directed to inform the chief secretary and the DGP.
CRPF sources said the battalion No. 50 was posted in Lalgarh of Jhargram and No. 165 in Tangasol, West Midnapore. Senior CRPF officers said it was the first such move to withdraw two entire battalions from Jungle Mahal at a go.
Senior CRPF and state government officers have commented that the order was rare. One senior state government official even termed it “wrong” ahead of Assembly polls.
Local Trinamul and BJP leaders, both, have not agreed with the order to withdraw the CRPF from such strategic locations.
Local Trinamul leaders said that the withdrawal of the forces was part of a larger plan of the BJP to create unrest in the area in the run-up to the state polls.
“BJP always wants violence and the decision to withdraw the CRPF battalions is nothing but to create trouble in the Maoist-hit zones. The order came at a time when our home minister Amit Shah came to the state, that’s quite significant,” said Dulal Murmu, Trinamul’s district president in Jhargram.
Local BJP leaders also said that the decision to withdraw the force could prove costly ahead of the Assembly polls.
The Lalgarh unit of BJP’s Yuva Morcha said that they would write to their senior leaders requesting not to withdraw the battalions.
“The presence of the CRPF is needed in Jungle Mahal areas like Lalgarh as we are getting information about the rise of Maoist activities. We will discuss it with the CRPF officers as well as our party leaders,” said Debasish Dey, block Yuva Morcha president in Lalgarh.
The IG of CRPF’s West Bengal circle Pradeep Kumar Singh did not take calls from this newspaper.
However, a CRPF officer in Calcutta said that apart from Bengal three more battalions from Bihar and Jharkhand were withdrawn and the decision was pending for the past two months.
There were eight battalions posted in different Jungle Mahal districts since 2009 when the Maoist activities were at their peak in Bengal.
Though the activities of the banned outfit declined after the change of guard in Bengal, there has been a rise in Maoist presence in the Jungle Mahal districts in recent months.