Thursday, March 9 2006 12:25 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Midnapore(WB): Two persons were hacked to death in the wee hours today(Mar 9,2006) by suspected ultras in West Bengal's West Midnapur district, a hotbed of Maoist activity.

Police Superintendent Ajay Nanda said the ultras raided Dangar Diha village and dragged four villagers from their houses.

While Jaladhar Mahato and Motilal Tudu, both in their thirties, were axed to death, one villager managed to escape.

The fourth villager, Satyen Soren, was injured and has been admitted to Jhargram hospital, he said.

The CPI(M) has claimed that those killed were party supporters. However, police said the two villagers were not associated with politics in any way.

According to Nanda, the modus operandi of the killings suggested it was the handiwork of Maoist Communist Centre(MCC) ultras from neighbouring Jharkhand. "The MCC is working in collusion with Maoists active in West Bengal's Bankura, Purulia and West Midanpur districts," he said.

Maoists had called for a boycott of assembly elections in West Midnapur on April 17 and Nanda claimed that the killings were an attempt to create terror in the region.

On Saturday, Maoists gunned down a CPI(M) activist at Lalgarh in West Midnapore and stabbed to death another Marxist leader in Barikul the next day.

In the wake of the killings, Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee had asked Director General of Police, S C Awasthi, to rush to the areas to assess the situation at Lalgarh and Barikul and initiate action to ensure peace.