Midnapore, July 5: The government will request the Centre to let the central forces stay in Lalgarh till the end of July, home secretary Ardhendu Sen said today.

“We had sought the central forces for a month, of which about a fortnight has passed. We will request Delhi to let the forces stay till the end of July. We don’t think we will require them after that,” said Sen, who visited Lalgarh this morning.

He said the Maoists were still holed up in pockets of Lalgarh and raids to nab them would continue. The four men arrested from Bersha village in Purulia on Friday night were apparently members of their action squad. “They had imparted arms training (to villagers) in Lalgarh,” Sen said.

He reached Lalgarh in a helicopter from Calcutta around 9.45am and met senior officials camping there to chalk out development projects.

“About 60 per cent of the people in Lalgarh live below the poverty line. We will have to generate income among them through projects under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme,” the home secretary said, admitting deficiencies in education, health, road connectivity, irrigation and electricity in the region.