West Bengal govt may ban Maoists: Buddhadeb

West Bengal government is considering banning the CPI (Maoists) after the Centre's suggestion to the state government in this regard following the Naxal violence in Lalgarh.     

"Home Minister Chidamabarm advised me to ban this organisation. We have to give it a serious thought," West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram here.     

"We have started thinking what to do," he said.      

Chidambaram had yesterday said that the state government should ban the Maoists. "We think they (Maoists) should be banned in West Bengal as in other states," he had said.     

Bhattacharjee said the Home Minister assured him that if the state government required more forces, he would be ready to send them. The West Bengal government has already deployed about 1,300 personnel of CRPF and about 600 BSF men.     

The state police and the other security forces were working in tandem against the Naxals in Lalgarh, he said.     

When asked whether a parallel government was being run by the Maoists in Lalgarh, the Chief Minister said "I have no answer to this."     

At the same time, he alleged that "Trinamool Congress has strong links with the group of so-called People's Committee against Police Terror" active in Lalgarh.     

"The leader of the group Chhatradhar Mahato is very much a member of Trinamool Congress," he claimed.