Police officers take cover after an exchange of fire with supporters of Maoist rebels, at Pirakata, in west Midnapore, west of Kolkata, India, 18 Jun 2009A battle has begun in a remote and heavily forested area in the Indianstate of West Bengal. Government troops have been sent there afterMaoist rebels seized a number of villages, began killing politicalrivals and torching government offices and police stations.

Para-military troops have marched into a zone declared liberated from government control by insurgents.

Witnessessay police fired tear gas shells and rubber bullets to disperse Maoistsympathizers attempting to block the advance of government forces.

Thirteencompanies of Border Security and the Central Reserve Police forces arebeing backed by a newly formed squad of 200 elite personnel, known asCOBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action), trained specifically tofight the Maoists.  

Local media reports say gunfire is beingheard 170 kilometers from the state capital, Kolkata, where hundreds ofinsurgents have placed women and children in front of them followed bymen wielding axes, bamboo sticks, bows and arrows.

Ideological cousins

AlthoughWest Bengal has been under control of an elected Communist governmentfor more than three decades, the ultra-left Maoists have declared waron their ideological cousins.

The Maoists say they arefighting on behalf of landless farmers and tribal members disenchantedwith the Communist state government's attempts to pushindustrialization.

Communist Party politburo member SitaramYechury, speaking to reporters in New Delhi, is optimistic the Maoistscan quickly be neutralized in West Bengal.

"We hope, as soon aspossible, normalcy should be restored there," said Yechury. "And we'vesaid that the central government, the central forces and the stategovernment should act in unison given the fact the prime ministerhimself is on record to state that the Maoist violence is the singlelargest threat to our internal security."

Another politburomember Brinda Karat also told reporters here that the rebels do notrepresent any legitimate cause but rather are "gangs intent onviolence."

Television channels carried an interview with theMaoist's purported military commander, Koteshwar Rao, known asKishanji, his back to the cameras, claiming his forces arewell-entrenched and will not be dislodged by the government.

The insurgent leader says 2,000 villagers support their fight against corrupt police and state government officials.  

AcrossIndia, there are believed to be as many as 20,000 rebels dedicated toMaoist ideology, known as Naxalites, who operate from jungle bases.They have attacked government centers in rural areas for decades.Concerns have grown recently amid indications the insurgents, inspiredby Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, are expanding their influence andgrowing stronger.