Purulia, Dec. 22: Two policemen were killed when over 30 suspected Maoists, dressed as ordinary villagers, opened fire during a change of the guards’ shift at the construction site of a Purulia community hall today.

A jeep carrying four state armed police personnel had just arrived around 4.30pm to relieve their colleagues when “30-40 people”, who had merged with hundreds of others at the bazaar at Raidiberada village, struck.

The daylight attack at a time the weekly haat (bazaar) was in full swing took the policemen so much by surprise that they apparently could not fire a single shot in response. Some of them had their bodies in shawls and could not free their arms in time.

Two of the assailants picked up the Insas rifles of the dead and injured cops as the others in the gang provided covering fire.

The dead constables were identified as Chinmoy Mondal, 27, and Toton Seth, 25. Nikhil Pandey, 29, is in a critical condition in hospital.

District superintendent of police Rajesh Yadav said Maoists from Jharkhand, only 6km from the scene of the bloodshed, were behind the attack. “There were 30-40 of them, most of whom came on motorbikes. They took advantage of the crowded market, mingling with the villagers. When the policemen arrived at the construction site, they surrounded them and opened fire,” he said.

Yadav said he was in touch with his Jharkhand counterparts. “We are searching the surrounding forests.”

About a month ago, Maoists had threatened to stall the construction of the community hall, being built by the Burrabazar panchayat samiti. The policemen had been posted there after the Maoists allegedly threatened to blow up the hall, 360km from Calcutta.

A district official said the rebels’ objective was “to pre- vent any development work being carried out by the government”.

On November 2, Maoists had triggered a landmine blast in neighbouring West Midnapore, targeting the chief minister. He was returning from Salboni after laying the foundation stone for a steel pant that could potentially change the economic landscape of the area. The blast, however, had hit a police car in Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s convoy.

Tribals in Lalgarh, about 100km from Burrabazar, had laid siege to the area after the blast protesting alleged police atrocities during the hunt for suspected Maoists. The rebels were believed to be egging the villagers on, until the government managed to placate them with the promise of a probe and development projects.

Today’s Maoist strike is the first since the landmine blast and the tribal uprising that followed.