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
Naxals to review Induwar beheading
For the first time, Maoists are debating the manner in which they kill people. Kishanji, the 51-year old politburo member of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist), said its leaders would review the recent beheading of inspector Francis Induwar. Snigdhendu Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on Oct 20, 2009 11:24 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Naxals try to regain lost ground, set up arms base in Bengal
Having struck success in three of Bengal’s western districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia, the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) is now planning to reclaim its lost grounds in Hooghly.
Updated on Oct 20, 2009 12:17 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Drimi Chaudhuri and Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata/arambagh
Naxalites look to CPM allies for help
Maoists are trying to mobilise support from Left Front allies in West Bengal for the withdrawal of the combined forces from Lalgarh.
Updated on Oct 16, 2009 01:24 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Maoist leader urges for withdrawl of forces from Lalgarh
Maoist leader Koteshwar Rao alias Kishanji has telephoned the leaders of Communist Part of India (CPI), Forward Bloc (FB) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) urging them to demand withdrawal of combined forces from Lalgarh, the Maoist hotbed in western Bengal.
Updated on Oct 15, 2009 08:21 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
CPI Maoist in no mood to give up armed struggle
The CPI Maoist is in no mood to give up their armed struggle. Even though the Union Home Ministry appealed to the Maoist to give up violence and arms for the sake of peaceful talks in solving an upcoming crisis of a severe battle, the banned communist outfit said in a press statement issued to HT that they are turning down union home minister’s appeal, reports Snigdhendu Bhattacharya.
Updated on Oct 08, 2009 02:22 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Propaganda gets them arrested, Maoists still need world connect
The Maoists’ strategy of using the media in their propaganda war against the government seems to be backfiring, at least in some cases.
Updated on Sep 27, 2009 12:54 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Lalgarh tribal leader Mahato held
With a post-Diwali offensive against Maoists due soon, the police scored another success as the state criminal investigation department (CID) nabbed Chhatradhar Mahato, the public face of the people’s movement at Lalgarh.
Updated on Sep 27, 2009 01:06 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Debdutta Ghosh and Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Weapons pile up, villagers flee
According to unconfirmed reports, around 3,000 people have already left Inayatpur and adjacent villages in the Maoist stronghold of Lalgarh. Snigdhendu Bhattacharya and Soumik Mandal report.
Updated on Oct 09, 2009 04:39 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya and Soumik Mandal, Inayatpur
Maoists attack CPM office in Lalgarh, 10 feared dead
A severe gun-battle has been going on for more than six hours from Monday evening at Inayatpur village near Lalgarh, about 10 km from Midnapore town, about 250 km from Kolkata.
Updated on Sep 22, 2009 02:22 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Bengal ministers get shooed away
The West Bengal government began air-dropping relief in the flood-affected Hooghly district, but the misdirected relief triggered great anger among the marooned people who took it out on two ministers who had gone to assess the situation, reports Snigdhendu Bhattacharya.
Updated on Sep 11, 2009 01:51 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Arambagh
‘We are ready to talk to the government’
KoteswarA Rao, alias Kishanji, is undoubtedly the backbone of the movement in Lalgarh. Number two in the CPI(Maoist) politburo, the 51-year old landmine expert trained by the LTTE tells Snigdhendu Bhattacharya that the Maoists are ready to talk to the government to resolve the Lalgarh crisis.
Updated on Jun 20, 2009 10:36 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya
Maoists preparing for guerrilla attacks
The war has begun. The state has made the initial advance, from which they have been barred by the Maoist-backed Peoples’ Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) for last eight months.
Updated on Jun 19, 2009 12:20 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Lalgarh
Anger and alienation turned tide against CPM in Lalgarh
On Monday, the whole nation watched on TV hundreds of people tearing down the house of Anuj Pandey, a CPI(M) zonal committee member, in Dharampur village in Lalgarh, about 250 km southwest of Kolkata.
Updated on Jun 19, 2009 12:03 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya and Surbek Biswas, Lalgarh/kolkata
Lalgarh: A war on the going
A war is on the going in the forest-surrounding areas of three western districts of West Bengal—West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia, where the Maoists have now ‘liberated’ more than 150 villages and have openly announced to go for few more. Now, it stands quite clear that the state cannot enter the area without opening fire on the locals, who seem to be ready to provide the first line of defense as human shield to the Maoist guerrillas. Snigdhendu Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on Jun 17, 2009 02:28 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Bengal burning: Police on the run
The Left Front finds itself on the defensive as Trinamool supporters and Maoists vent their fury at CPM leaders and party offices, reports Snigdhendu Bhattacharya.
Updated on Jun 17, 2009 11:49 AM IST
None | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
4 bodies found, CPM, Maoist clash claims 10
Lalgarh was back on the boil on Sunday when four bodies were recovered, while at least 10 persons are reportedly dead following clashes between CPI(M) and CPI(Maoist) at Dharampur.
Updated on Jun 15, 2009 12:16 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata/lalgarh
Maoist arrows defeat cops
It was bows and arrows versus bullets in Maoist-dominated Lalgarh on Wednesday, and the arrows won.
Updated on Jun 11, 2009 12:17 AM IST
None | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Lalgarh
Welcome to India’s newest, secret state
What 30 years of Left rule could not do, the Maoists are doing in a sylvan ‘liberated zone’, with its own roads, health centres, canals and judiciary, reports Snigdhendu Bhattacharya.
Updated on Jun 10, 2009 08:05 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Lalgarh (w Midnapore)
‘We support Islamic terrorism’
He is West Bengal’s most wanted man and one of India’s most dreaded outlaws. Koteswar Rao, better known to his cadres as Kishanji, is the deputy leader of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), the underground party of Naxalites. After much effort, he agreed to meet HT’s Snigdhendu Bhattacharya deep in the jungles of West Bengal’s West Midnapore district.
Updated on Jun 09, 2009 11:56 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya
Singur drove Nano away, now it wants to drive it
They want to ride the Nano because they want to show to their pro-farming leaders what they have missed. Snigdhendu Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on Apr 10, 2009 01:27 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Singur
Democracy drowns in Hoogly river
The swirling waters of river Hoogly have swallowed the democratic rights of 1,400 villagers of this tiny island of Charjatra Siddhi that falls in Bolagarh assembly constituency of Hoogly district.
Updated on Mar 22, 2009 12:46 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Bolagarh (hooghly)
‘No radio without Bose’
A century-long debate over who invented the radio may have come to an end. Marconi has given Jagadish Chandra Bose due credit for his pioneering contribution in the field of wireless communication.
Updated on Dec 04, 2008 12:40 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Mou Chakraborty & Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
2 CPM men convicted in murder case
Almost two years after the charred body of Tapasi Malik (17) was found at the Nano project site in Singur, two CPI-M leaders were on Tuesday convicted of her murder. Snigdhendu Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on Nov 12, 2008 01:01 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Singur
Clashes in Singur, 15 hurt
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s first visit to Singur, post Tata’s withdrawal from the area, was marred by protests and clashes between her supporters and pro-Nano plant activists, reports Snigdhendu Bhattacharya.
Updated on Nov 03, 2008 12:59 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Singur
Protest against anti-Tata protests
Singur is on the boil again. Unending roadblocks, trenches dug for a long siege and a polarised atmosphere, report Sujit Nath & Snigdhendu Bhattacharya.
Updated on Oct 05, 2008 12:25 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Sujit Nath & Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Singur
Guards thrashed at Singur’s Nano plant
On Monday night, some unidentified persons entered the project site for manufacturing Tata Motor’s Nano small car here and thrashed two security guards inside the factory premises.
Updated on Sep 23, 2008 11:43 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Singur
Tata plant closed for second day
The stalemate at Singur continued on Saturday, with the Tata Motors plant remaining shut for the second day running. Both the Govt and the protesters refusing to budge from their stated stands, reports Snigdhendu Bhattacharya.
Updated on Aug 31, 2008 01:09 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Singur
Work stops at Nano unit, staff evacuated
Work at the Tata Motors factory in Singur finally came to a complete halt and all its workers were evacuated for the fear of their security, report S Bhattacharya and S Maiti. Bandh rap...
Updated on Aug 30, 2008 01:13 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Subhendu Maiti and Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Battlefield Singur
Singur hasn’t woken up to a more tense dawn. Every morning at 6.30 the first shift begins at the plant. Two hours later, it’s time for the general shift. report Avijit Ghosal & Snigdhendu Bhattacharya.
Updated on Aug 24, 2008 11:50 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Avijit Ghosal & Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Singur
It’s wait and watch for CPM
The CPI(M) has thought through its strategy for battle with Mamata Bannerjee and her ragtag army of peasants and volunteers protesters will be given a long rope, reports Snigdhendu Bhattacharya.
Updated on Aug 24, 2008 01:04 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, Singur