Calcutta, Oct. 6: A woman in her early thirties had led last Tuesday?s operation of blowing up a police camp under construction at Bandwan in Purulia.
Two days after the strike, police identified her as Jagari Baskey, a key member of the CPI(Maoist)?s action squad.
?She was also one of the members who raided (CPM zonal committee member) Mahendra Mahato?s residence and killed him on the night of July 9. Yesterday, she was accompanied by a youth, identified as Marsar,? said an officer of Purulia police.
On Tuesday evening, a group of Maoists ? all in army fatigues and armed with AK-47s, carbines and other semi-automatic weapons ? entered Purulia, 280 km from Calcutta, through Bogdoba, a remote hamlet bordering Jharkhand and Purulia. They forced the residents of the nearby Gurupana village to guide them to the camp. After a six-hour operation, they planted explosives and blew up the camp. They fled towards Ghatshila in Jharkhand through the same route.
Elaborating on Jagari?s role, an official of the state Intelligence Branch (IB) said: ?She is from Bogdoba village and knows the jungle routes like the back of her hand. She joined the organisation only a year ago and has already become one of its key members. Besides, she one of the most daring and bold members of the organisation. This is why the top leaders like to engage her in every operation they plan to execute in Purulia, especially in and around Bandwan.?
Police and intelligence officials working on Maoist activities in the state have come to know that the plot of blowing up the camp was the brainchild of Dwijen Hembram, better known as Anantada in Naxalite circles. ?He is in charge of the organisation?s Midnapore-Bankura-Purulia unit. The plan to destroy the camp was chalked out a month ago when its construction started,? said an IB official.
An officer of the Purulia police explained that the camp was destroyed as it would have obstructed the safe passage of Maoists through the forest of Bandwan in Jharkhand.
Police officers of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia, however, fear another strike by the Maoists in near future. ?A special alert has been sounded and we have engaged our full strength to carry out a combing operation in jungles and remote villages,? said a senior official.
