Hundreds of Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) jawans deployed in the Naxal-affected areas of West Midnapore and Bankura have exploded in protest against alleged apathy of the government.
According to reports about 485 jawans have joined the protest against prolonged posting in Jangalmahal, lack of leave and the living condition.
While a section of jawans have gone on hunger strike from last night in front of their respective camps at places like Shilda, Lalgarh, Salboni, Jhargram, Keshpur, Garbeta and Majugeria in West Medinipur and Sarenga in Bankura district, some along with their family members demonstrated in front of IRB’s headquarters in Durgapur. However, jawans, reportedly, called off their fast later in the day, following assurence from the state government to look into the matter. The protest was spearheaded by jawans at Shilda camp, where Naxals had killed 26 Eastern Frontier Rifles jawans in February last year. They allegedly did not allow officers from the nearby Binpur police station to enter their camp when they went to pacify them last night.The commandant of the IRB was sent on Thursday to Jangalmahal to look into the problems of the jawans. However the jawans have demanded chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee’s immediate intervention in the crisis.
“The jawans should not protest like this. We are finding out whether there is any provocation,” West Bengal Home Secretary G D Gautama said.Indian Reserve Battalion, is a force constituted by the state governments as per the centre's direction to maintain law and order situation and internal security in the respective state.