Calcutta, Nov. 7: Three members of an anti-Maoist Jharkhand outfit were found dead, their hands tied and their bodies riddled with bullets, in West Midnapore the day the chief minister arrived in the district.

The bodies of Lakshmi Das, Joyram Hansda and Manoranjan Mahali were found on a state highway in Binpur, about 80km from Midnapore town where Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee arrived this evening. The trio, police said, were probably associated with the Gana Santrash Pratirodh Committee that protests against Maoist torture.

The Kushmandi forest, near which the three were found lying in a pool of blood, is 40km from Lalgarh, where security forces are stationed to combat the Maoists.

Lying beside the bodies were two pamphlets in red ink. One said the trio was given the “death sentence” for being “police informers. Another said that they were punished “for collecting money by posing as Maoists”.

Manoj Kumar Verma, the West Midnapore police chief, said: “Going by the gory nature of the crime, it appears the murders are the handiwork of the Maoists. The posters confirm their involvement.”

No arrests were made.

A police officer said the three were targeted because they broke away from the Jharkhand Party (Naren) in November 2008 and formed the Jharkhand Janmukti Morcha with over 200 others.

The tribals broke away from the Jharkhand Party (Naren) after the Maoist blast in Salboni that targeted the chief minister’s convoy. The Morcha is an outfit that opposes the Maoists.

Some Morcha activists also formed the Gana Santrash Pratirodh Committee, which mobilises tribals against the rebels. Last month, the Maoists circulated pamphlets in Binpur and Belpahari warning people that they would be targeted like CPM workers were if they became members of the committee.