Maoists, PCPA attack Bankura police station, 9 injured

Maoists and activists of People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) today attacked a police station in Bankura triggering an exchange of fire which left nine, including three police personnel, injured.

Bankura SP Vishal Garg said the Maoists and the PCPA members attacked Barikul police station, 70km from here, and the injured included three women police personnel.

Later, police arrested seven people in connection with the incident and seized two country-made pistols, four cartridges and two landmines, he said.

Additional police reinforcements have been rushed to the area, Garg said.

Today's attack on the police station comes on the heels of the January 25 attack by Maoists on two camps of the combined forces of police and CRPF under Barikul police station.

In neighbouring West Midnapore district armed Maoists gunned down a CPI-M worker after abducting him from his house at Girighati village in the early hours of the day.

The bullet-riddled body was found from the outskirts of the village. Some posters left behind by the Maoists claimed Sardar to be a police spy.

Meanwhile, the PCPA has called an indefinite blockade in Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore districts from tomorrow.