Binpur, Oct. 30: Armed members of the Maoist-backed People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities have raided a forest department compound and two panchayat offices since last night, carrying out a threat they had issued earlier this week.

In a fourth attack where a cash box containing employees’ salary was snatched from an irrigation department office, police could not confirm the role of Maoists.

All four incidents took place within 60 km of trouble zone Lalgrah, which is under the protection of a joint police-paramilitary force. The attacks followed yesterday’s murder of two Trinamul and two CPM activists.

“We are probing whether Maoists were involved in looting the cash box in Jhargram. We, however, can’t rule out their involvement,” said Manoj Verma, the West Midnapore superintendent of police.

The Maoists set fire to the offices in the forest department compound and robbed employees. From one of the panchayat offices they looted rice and torched the other.

On Monday, people’s committee leaders had announced that they had raised a special armed group whose members would loot government offices and property.

In spite of that, there was no response from the administration when the militia struck. The government admitted that it had yet to put together a mechanism to secure its assets and people.

Chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti said: “We are not taking anything lightly. We have taken note of the threats. Security is being beefed up in the troubled belt of West Midnapore. Overall, police presence is also being increased there.”

Around 11.45pm yesterday, about 50 members of the Sidhu-Kanhu Gana Militia, raised by the people’s committee, attacked the forest department compound in Binpur that houses beat offices and residences of officials and half-a-dozen guards and employees.

Led by a woman in her early twenties wearing a salwar-kameez, the gang was armed mostly with single-barrel guns and revolvers.

They broke the lock of the main door of the compound and held the two forest guards on duty, Nripen Ahir and Raban Hembram, at gunpoint.

The group switched off electricity supply to the compound and marched to the one-storey range office, which they broke open and ransacked before setting it afire. Their next arson target was the residence of the range officer, Dilip Kumar Mondal, who was on leave.

Beat officer Srimanta Kumar Chanda, who lives next door, was not so lucky. The militia members beat him with sticks and torched his residence and office. They also set fire to two motorcycles parked in the compound.

The attackers ordered the families of five forest guards and Group D staff out of their homes.

“They asked us to stand under a mango tree and entered our house. They looted our mobile phones and torchlights. Then they entered our quarters, broke the almirah locks and looted whatever cash and jewellery we had,” said Aditya Mohanta, a guard.

His daughter Banasree hid her mobile under the bed, allowing Mohanta to call the police once the Maoists left.

The entire operation took about 45 minutes. Before leaving, they pasted posters demanding the release of people’s committee leader Chhatradhar Mahato and his aides.

In Jhargram town, four motorcycle-borne youths arrived at the irrigation department’s Kangshabati project office around 12.30pm today. The 35 employees of the office were being paid their salaries when the youths brandishing revolvers and pipe guns entered to rob the cash box containing nearly Rs 4 lakh.

The robbers were chased by the employees who caught one and beat him up before handing him over to the police. During interrogation, the youth said his name was Abhijeet Rana.

“The arrested youth is not a local man and we have not found any criminal record. We are checking whether he has any Maoist link,” the SP said.

Around 6 this morning, people’s committee activists looted several sacks of rice from the Makli panchayat office in Goaltore and left posters behind demanding the release of Chhatradhar and his comrades.

The last of the raids occurred tonight when a 100-strong mob set fire to the Bhulabheda panchayat office under Belpahari police station.