13 arrested for alleged Maoist links

KOLKATA - Thirteen people, including two Kolkata-based professors, were Tuesday arrested for their alleged links with Maoists in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district, police said.

All of them were held from Kantapahari area under Lalgarh police station, about 200 km west of the metropolis, police sources said. They include two professors - Nisha Biswas and Kanishka Chowdhury.

They were first detained after police were informed that the group came from the city to meet one of the second rung leaders of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) allegedly responsible for carrying out operations in the district, a senior officer said.

The group members however, told the police that they went to the villages to speak to people about their suffering and functioning of the government offices in the area, he said.