Midnapore, March 19: Al-ready tormented by CPI (Maoist) guerrillas, police in West Midnapore are finding it hard to cope with political murders that are on the rise in the run-up to the elections.

Since January, eight people ? six CPM and two Jharkhand Party activists ? have been killed and the police apprehend more murders.

“We are working overtime to nab the Maoists? our hands are full. Now if the political parties resort to such violence, we really have a problem in our hands. We will soon sit with all political parties to discuss law and order,” said district superintendent of police Ajay Nand.

Two CPM leaders ? Satadal Maity and Piyush Maity ? were shot dead on Friday night and their bodies pierced with arrows at Dumuria village in Jamboni, West Midnapore, about 175 km from Calcutta. The needle of suspicion turned to miscreants owing allegiance to the Jharkhand Party (Naren).

The police said the killings were to avenge the murders of Jharkhand Party (Aditya Kisku) leaders Kali Mandi and Badal Besra. The party had accused the CPM of orchestrating the double murder.

Along with Maoists, security forces in the district are now combing forests for these killers.

Nand said: “These deaths are fallouts of political rivalry. They are in no way linked with the Maoists. In the murder of Satadal Maity and Piyush Maity, the Jharkhand Party’s role is clear.”

The police are particularly weary over the incidents since January as one incident has led to several retaliatory strikes.

An officer said 25 people were killed ahead of the 2001 Assembly elections and the panchayat polls two years later ? 10 belonged to the CPM and the rest to Jharkhand Party and the Congress.

Strike plan

The Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau has cautioned the government about changes in the Maoists’ mode of operation in Bengal.

Instead of ambushes and landmines, the report suggests, hijacking could be a more useful weapon at a time of heightened security. “The hijacking of a train at Palamau last week was a trial-run,” an officer who went through the report said in Calcutta.

The rebels will also try to blow up radio and telephone towers, the report says.