Kolkata, Oct 26 (IANS) Suspected Maoist guerrillas shot dead a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader in West Bengal’s violence-hit West Midnapore district Monday afternoon, police said.
“Pratap Nayak was shot dead by a group of motorcycle-borne unidentified miscreants - suspected to be Maoists - near Binpur bazaar when he was returning home in the afternoon,” a police official said.

Nayak was a local CPI-M leader and member of the Singhpur Panchayat committee.

“The perpetrators fled the spot. No one has been arrested in connection with the murder,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Maoist-backed tribal body People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) has called an indefinite shutdown in three districts - Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore - from Tuesday.

According to sources, the strike has been called in support of the demand for withdrawal of joint forces from Lalgarh, 200 km west of the metropolis.

Terming the Maoist violence as CPI-M’s political gameplan, Railways Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said: “There’s no element called Maoists in West Bengal. It’s the CPI-M goons who are triggering violence across the state in the name of Maoist ultras.

“This government has no right to remain in power.”

She said the law and order situation had deteriorated beyond the state government’s control.