Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, principal correspondent, Hindustan Times, Kolkata, has been covering politics, socio-economic and cultural affairs for over 10 years. He takes special interest in monitoring developments related to Maoist insurgency and religious extremism.
Articles by Snigdhendu Bhattacharya
Release Deepak, we’ll talk: Rebels to govt
Within 30 hours of the arrest of Venkateswar Reddy alias Telugu Deepak in Kolkata on Tuesday evening, Maoists have again offered to hold talks with the Centre. There is, however, a caveat: Deepak has to be released first.
Updated on Mar 05, 2010 01:06 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
A shot in the dark
Chidambaram wants the Maoists to abjure violence first for preparing the ground for talks, and the red brigade has matched it by asking the government to stop anti-Maoist operations and then talk about negotiations. Will there be talks? Will they lead to any solution? Snigdhendu Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on Feb 26, 2010 01:26 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Chidambaram, Naxals swap phone numbers
Reacting to the Maoists truce call, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said he would respond if the Maoists faxed him an authentic proposal in writing, agreeing to give up violence and with no pre-conditions for talks. Within hours, Maoists asked the Govt to set out its own proposal first. Aloke Tikku and Snigdhendu Bhattacharya report.
Updated on Feb 24, 2010 02:00 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Aloke Tikku and Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, New Delhi/kolkata
The faceless face of the Maoists
Almost everything about him is known, except where he is. Over the past nine months, about 10 officials of West Bengal police are tracking his cellphone. But Mallojula Koteshwar Rao alias Kishenji, politburo member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), remains elusive.
Updated on Feb 19, 2010 01:35 AM IST
None | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya
More camps waiting to be hit
If inconvenient location and lack of battle preparedness resulted in the killing of 24 Eastern Frontier Rifles personnel at Silda on Monday, there are at least seven more camps in the Maoist-hit area waiting to be overrun. Debdutta Ghosh and Snigdhendu Bhattacharya report. Full coverage | Naxal or jihadi?
Updated on Feb 18, 2010 01:58 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Debdutta Ghosh and Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Silda/kharagpur
After attack, spotlight on weaknesses of EFR
Monday’s Maoist attack on the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) in West Midnapore exposed the weaknesses of the force.
Updated on Feb 18, 2010 12:25 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Red front ready to talk to Trinamool
A Maoist-backed organisation in Bengal has offered to discuss peace and development with the Trinamool Congress, which is part of the UPA at the Centre. But it wants to talk to Trinamool MP Kabir Suman only.
Updated on Feb 12, 2010 01:54 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Mamata touch to Bengal stations
Wherever she sees red, she thinks of the CPI(M). Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has begun changing the colour of railway buildings from red to green that symbolises youth and, of course, her party.
Updated on Feb 11, 2010 01:20 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Salwa Judum-style militia in West Bengal
A Salwa Judum-style anti-Maoist people’s militia has come up in Bengal’s West Midnapore district that has been worst hit by insurgency.
Updated on Jan 28, 2010 01:06 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Guns and poses
Red agenda - Even as Maoists push their violence agenda extra hard, they are piggybacking on popular movements and speaking in a language that resonates with voters, reports Snigdhendu Bhattacharya.
Updated on Jan 21, 2010 12:22 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
For 13th day, Bengal’s Jhargram remains ghost town
Petrol pumps are closed for 13 days, so are banks, post offices, ration shops and even courts. The streets are empty, except the thuds of CRPF jawans’ boots.
Updated on Dec 30, 2009 11:21 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Jhargram
Maoists eye Telangana comeback
The political turmoil in Andhra Pradesh over Telangana has rekindled Maoists’ hopes for a comeback in a state that was once their stronghold, reports Snigdhendu Bhattacharya.
Updated on Dec 27, 2009 12:06 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Bar association of a West Midnapore court closes down court due to Maoist blockade
A sub-divisional court at Jhargram remained closed for the third day on Thursday after the bar association of this small West Midnapore town announced indefinite suspension of work in protest against disruption of transport services due to Maoist blockade.
Updated on Dec 25, 2009 01:39 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Lawyers suspend work in Jhargram
A court in Jhargram town of West Midnapore district remained closed for the third consecutive day on Thursday on account of lawyers protesting against transport becoming paralysed because of a Maoist blockade.
Updated on Dec 24, 2009 11:20 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Maoists announce ‘loan waiver’ for farmers
Farmers in West Midnapore district of West Bengal may not have to repay their crop loans. The Maoists have announced a waiver. This is the first time the rebel group has announced such a decision, reports Snigdhendu Bhattacharya.
Updated on Dec 17, 2009 12:27 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Maoists look to build links with separatists
The Maoists are planning to build a network with the separatist groups of India, the focus being on those operating in the Northeast and Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).
Updated on Dec 13, 2009 10:40 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Maoists now eye north Bengal
Maoists are planning to revisit north Bengal in a big way. So far confined to the south Bengal districts of West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura in its second avtar, the Maoists struck the Katihar-Malda Express train on Friday night.
Updated on Dec 13, 2009 12:48 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Maoists kill 4 CPI (M) supporters
The Communist Party of India (Maoist) rebels killed as many as 10 people last week in and around Lalgarh, 180 km west of state capital Kolkata.
Updated on Dec 11, 2009 01:19 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
First time: Top Maoist faces bared
They are the shadowy men who sit on the politburo of the CPI (Maoists), the rebels’ highest decision-making body. Till recently, no one outside their immediate circles knew what they looked like. Bibhas Bhattacharyya and Snigdhendu Bhattacharya tell more...Most wanted
Updated on Nov 28, 2009 01:38 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Bibhas Bhattacharyya and Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
One dead in CPM-Trinamool clash
The turf war between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Trinamool Congress has reached Hooghly district, one of last bastions of the Left in West Bengal, on Thursday, leaving one person dead and a police officer injured.
Updated on Nov 26, 2009 11:38 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Arambagh
Maoists praise Govt’s rural job plan
The government’s pet project, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), has a new champion — the Maoists.
Updated on Nov 24, 2009 02:23 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Potato farmers peeved
A poor produce this year and lack of access to cold storage facilities have been disastrous for West Bengal’s small potato farmers, reports Snigdhendu Bhattacharya. See graphics
Updated on Nov 20, 2009 01:06 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Hooghly
Students protest against police atrocities at Kolkata Film Festival
On Tuesday, a group of 10 students entered the festival venue and started shouting slogans against police atrocities in Lalgarh and distributed leaflets, reports Snigdhendu Bhattacharya.
Updated on Nov 17, 2009 07:07 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Blood for blood, says Maoist leader
The war of words between the government and rebel outfit CPI (Maoist) took a new dimension on Thursday as a leader of the banned outfit said they were ready to shed the last drop of blood in the fight against the government for the sake of the “revolution”.
Updated on Nov 13, 2009 02:55 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Maoists turn down PC appeal to halt violence
The Communist Party of India (Maoist) have turned down Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s appeal to halt violence so that talks between the outlawed party and the state governments can be facilitated.
Updated on Nov 01, 2009 02:18 AM IST
None | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Settling in for a long and bloody fight
On this scarred battlefront, it’s not an aberration to see a 17-year-old girl with a rifle on her shoulder. The thin, five-foot girl, who calls herself ‘Sita’, wants to avenge the death of her father that happened allegedly at the behest of CPI (Marxist) members. Snigdhendu Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on Oct 31, 2009 08:28 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Lalgarh
Now, CPM workers hold up Rajdhani for 2 hours
Three days after hundreds of Maoist-backed tribals held the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express hostage in West Bengal, CPI(M) workers did an encore, holding up the Howrah Rajdhani for two hours in the outskirts of Kolkata, albeit for a very different reason.
Updated on Oct 31, 2009 12:42 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Beat us at governance, say Maoists
After train hijacking, comes a reality show. Who can sink a tube-well or set up a health-centre first — the West Bengal government or the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist)? Snigdhendu Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on Oct 30, 2009 12:01 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Tribal outfit takes up arms, faces ban
The People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) has formed an armed outfit even as the West Bengal government is planning to ban the parent body.
Updated on Oct 29, 2009 12:41 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya and Surbek Biswas, Kolkata
Lemon tea and biscuits in Maoist heartland
An HT reporter recounts the drama leading up to the release of Bengal cop Atindranath Dutta, a Naxal hostage.
Updated on Oct 24, 2009 12:06 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Jhargram