November 19, 2011
CM pays homage to Naga security personnel who died in an armed encounter with Maoists at Balarampur in Purulia
Kolkata, Nov 19: West Bengal CM Ms. Mamata Banerjee tonight paid homage to a security personnel of Naga regiment who died in an armed encounter with Maoists at Balarampur in Purulia district on November 14. Body of the security person was brought here from Ranchi where he succumbed to injuries at a hospital in the early hours today. Banerjee laid a wreath at the coffin kept at the base of Gandhi statue here. Body of the jawan will be taken to his home town in Nagaland tomorrow. Earlier a guard of honour was given to the slain security personnel at Ranchi before being flown out to Kolkata. The security man, belonging to a Naga regiment had been seriously injured in an encounter with the Ayodhya squad of the Maoists at Balarampur on November 14. Two Maoists had also been killed in the gun-battle, which followed the killing of two Trinamool Congress workers Ajit Singh Sardar and his son Baku Singh Sardar.
Earlier, Ms. Mamata Banerjee prevailed on the interlocutors appointed to facilitate peace talks with the Maoists to continue with their job but refused to deliberate on their request to suspend security operations in Jungle Mahal.
She said she had faith in interlocutor team and the role they are playing in the (peace) process. By asking the interlocutors to continue with their job, Ms. Banerjee made it clear that she believed that only dialogue could bring about a lasting resolution of the Maoist problem.
