'Maoists may trigger Dantewada-like attacks to avenge Azad's killing'

Maoist rebels may trigger Dantewada-style attacks in eastern India to avenge the killing of their top leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad, intelligence reports suggest, said a senior police official Sunday.

Following the intelligence inputs and ahead of the nationwide shutdown called Monday by the Maoists to protest the killing, police stations in all West Bengal districts have been alerted to foil any rebel attack, said Inspector General (Law and Order) Surojit Kar Purkayastha.

Besides, special precautionary measures have been put in place in the three western districts - West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia - which are considered Maoist hotbeds in West Bengal.

'We have alerted all police stations. But maximum security has been taken in the areas of these three districts where Maoists are active,' said Inspector General (Western Range) Zulfikar Hassan.

Azad, spokesperson of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist, was killed by the police in an alleged exchange of fire in the forests of Adilabad district in Andhra Pradesh Friday.

On April 6, Maoists massacred 76 security personnel in an ambush in Dantewada in Chhattisgarh. In another attack on Tuesday, they killed 27 security personnel in Narayanpur in the state.

Source:http://in.news.yahoo.com/