Kolkata:
Home Minister P Chidambaram is in the Naxal heartland of West Bengal.
A short while ago, he reached Lalgarh, one of the politically sensitive areas of the state and a hotbed of Maoist violence.
It is for the first time after the joint forces operations against Maoists were launched in June last year that Chidambaram is visiting the Maoist strong base.
He will assess the ongoing joint operations against the Maoists and is scheduled to hold a high-level meeting with the police and the administration.
A helicopter carrying the Minister, West Bengal Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen and Director General of Police Bhupinder Singh touched down at the heavily guarded helipad next to the Lalgarh police station at 8:00 am.
Chidambaram was received by District Magistrate N S Nigam, Superintendent of Police Manoj Verma and senior CRPF officials at the helipad.
The Minister then drove to the nearby Lalgarh police station which was liberated by central para-military forces and the police from the clutches of the Maoists on June 20 last year, a day after the anti-Naxal operation was launched in the district.
Chidambaram, who took off from the Race Course grounds in Kolkata at around 7:00 am, reached Lalgarh an hour later.
From the Lalgarh police station, he will go to a CRPF camp and a primary health centre.
Maoists on Saturday exploded a powerful landmine targeting CRPF personnel in West Midnapore district on the eve of Chidambaram's visit to Lalgarh. However, there were no reports of injuries or casualties.
The Maoist-backed tribal group People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) has also called for a 24-hour bandh on Sunday in West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts to protest the Home Minister's visit.
On Sunday night, Chidambaram met West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in Kolkata and was understood to have reviewed the situation in Maoist-hit areas where the joint operations have achieved success in last few days as also the future strategy to tackle the Maoist menace. (With PTI inputs)