Tribals protest arrest of villagers in Lalgarh

Kolkata, Dec 8 : Hundreds of tribal activists Tuesday staged a protest in front of a joint forces' camp in West Bengal's Lalgarh region, demanding the release of two villagers who had allegedly been arrested by the police Monday night.

The protest was led by the People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), a Maoist backed tribal body.

"A section of villagers staged a sit-in in front of a joint forces' camp at Goaltore area in West Midnapore district. They also submitted a memorandum to the central paramilitary troopers, demanding the release of two villagers who were allegedly arrested by the joint forces' personnel," West Midnapore District Magistrate N.S. Nigam told IANS.

He said no untoward incident was reported during the protest.

"The situation was brought under control with police intervention," he said.

In a separate incident, a group of disgruntled villagers, backed by suspected Maoist rebels, ransacked the house of a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) sympathiser.

"The incident took place at Dharampur area in the district when villagers ransacked the house of Binoy Pande," the district magistrate said.

According to sources, Binoy Pande is related to CPI-M's Binpur zonal committee member Anuj Pande, whose house was razed to the ground in June.