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Suspected Maoists killed a local Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader at his residence in West Bengal's West Midnapore district on Friday. Local Committee Secretary of CPI (M) and West Midnapore District Committee member Himangshu Maity was asleep when a group of suspected Maoists arrived at his home around midnight and shot him dead. Sisir Maity, the deceased's brother, said that the group broke into the house through the back door and hit everyone inside before they shot dead his brother. "We were sleeping at that time when suddenly some people started hammering on doors. We got scared. Then some people requested to open the doors but we didn't, then they broke the backside of our home, and after entering they hit everyone and finally they fired on him," said Maity. The rebels alleged that Himangshu Maity was an informer to security forces. Maoists have spread into rural pockets in 20 of India's 28 states and their crusade has upset business prospects worth billions of dollars in mining and allied industries. Thousands have been killed in the Maoist insurgency, which began in the late 1960s, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has warned that the rebels have managed to retain support among a cross-section of society, and remain the country's biggest internal security threat.

Suspected Maoists kill CPI (M) leader in West Midnapore