Midnapore, April 11: About 200 armed men, alleged to be CPM cadres, today tried to make a Nandigram-style entry into Lalgarh but were stopped by tribals, sparking an exchange of fire.

The armed group, believed to be mainly from Salboni in West Midnapore, converged at Madhupur at the fringes of Lalgarh around 10am and tried to cross a culvert left unguarded by the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities. But news of their approach spread and the tribals, mostly supporters of the committee that is leading the Lalgarh agitation, and armed Maoists gathered on the other side.

Local people said the CPM cadres fired first, prompting the tribals to retaliate. Till around 5pm, when a police team arrived, there was sporadic firing from both sides but no report of injuries. When they saw the police, the alleged CPM cadres melted away, probably into the nearby villages.

According to the police, the armed group first tried to enter Lalgarh through Sarenga on the West Midnapore-Bankura border but failed since the area was being guarded by the tribals. They then tried the Madhupur route.

“The police are camping in the area,” West Midnapore superintendent of police Manoj Verma said. “The armed group has dispersed but we don’t know what is happening on the other side of the culvert since our men are not being allowed to enter Lalgarh.”

Hemanta Deb Sinha, panchayat pradhan of Debagram under which Salboni falls, said the CPM was “desperate” to enter Lalgarh because many cadres had been forced to leave the area in the past few months. “Our supporters have been tortured and their homes burnt,” he said.

Local people said the tribal committee’s writ now ran not only in Lalgarh but also in “fringe” areas like Madhupur.

Shyam Pandey, zonal secretary of the CPM’s Salboni committee, said it was the Maoists who had crossed the culvert, in the guise of tribal committee members, and attacked CPM homes. “They wanted to proceed towards our party office. Our supporters resisted.”

Committee leader Chhatradhar Mahato denied the charge. “It was a planned move by the CPM to enter Lalgarh,” he said. “They came with firearms. We will stop them at any cost.”

In Calcutta, the government said it would begin fresh talks with the tribals, urging them to let the police in just for the duration of the polls, to be held on April 30. “We will use minimal force, and only if necessary. There’s no question of the police firing at the tribals,” home secretary Ardhendu Sen said. The Election Commission has said it will try to boost the confidence of people in the area.