Calcutta, June 17: The chief minister told his Left Front allies today that central forces would be used first to confine Maoists to the Lalgarh-Dharampur area and foil their bid to expand the “liberated zone”.

“Operation flushout”, however, could take time as the government is worried about civilian casualties in the gun battle that is certain in case of a crackdown.

“The Lalgarh situation is quite bad and the Maoists are planning to march towards Salboni and Goaltore. Our first target is to confine them where they are,’’ a front leader quoted Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee as telling an “emergency” meeting this morning to take stock of the post-poll offensive for turf launched by the Maoists and Mamata Banerjee.

“We can’t go for a crackdown right away as the Maoists will use tribal women and children as human shields. We want to minimise casualties and we have to move cautiously,” Bhattacharjee added.

He admitted that the Maoists had spread their wings to 12 police station areas in Bengal’s tribal heartland, comprising the districts of West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura.

Front sources said the rebels’ firepower had also forced the chief minister’s “caution”. At the meeting, Bhattacharjee said five squads of 300 heavily armed Maoists from Jharkhand had joined those camping in Lalgarh.

He also said he was in touch with Delhi while his officials were working with their Jharkhand counterparts on intelligence sharing and “co-ordinated” action.

However, Jharkhand police chief D.G. Ram denied passing on any intelligence regarding the movement of Maoists.

He also rejected the claim that Maoists from his state were infiltrating West Midnapore. “Jharkhand has no liberated zone, but Lalgarh has become one,” Ram said, suggesting that the extremists had struck deeper roots in Bengal.

Jharkhand home secretary J.B. Tubid said they had not received any communique from Bengal on a “joint operation”, though Ram said they were always ready for one against the Maoists.

Caught between the fear of repeating Nandigram and the pressure from the ranks, now at the receiving end of the wrath of the Maoists and Trinamul, the front apparently endorsed Bhattacharjee’s caution.

Since he will try to make the Centre share the political cost of an eventual bloodshed, front sources said the showdown with the Maoists was unlikely before he returned from Delhi this weekend. The government is also likely to hold back the action till the polls to 16 municipalities on June 28.

A front resolution today said the state should make “administrative moves to restore law and order and democratic rights”, but didn’t mention Lalgarh. Front chairman and CPM state secretary Biman Bose skirted questions on the troubled zone. “Our people have left the area. Now it is up to the government to do what is to be done there.”

He also ruled out banning the Maoists, stressing on a “political battle”.

The CPM’s allies appeared to be sitting on the fence. They criticised the “police inaction” to stop the persecution of front workers but took pains to distance themselves from the crackdown. The Bloc’s Ashok Ghosh said: “Maoists are not our class enemies.”