A CPI(M) leader today criticised the Maoists for "killing innocent people" and praised the recent policies of the Centre and state governments to curb Naxalite violence.
"Recent murders committed by Maoists in the country are brutal, inhuman and gruesome," CPI(M) central committee member and West Bengal health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra said while addressing a workshop of party workers here.
"Guerrillas of CPI(Maoist) have killed more than 100 innocent people in West Bengal alone in the past couple of months," he said.
He urged the people to oppose the activities of the Maoists.
Mishra said Maoists have not understood the ideals of Mao Tse Tung and have been divided into hundreds of factions which were fighting among themselves.
The revolutionary teachings of Mao never prescribed that killing of innocent people would bring in social transformation, he said.
He advocated campaign against these forces in the country to save the poor and innocent people from joining Maoist cadre.
