Incident Summary:
12/17/2010: On Friday night around 0200, in Baghbinda village of Jhalda, Puruliya, West Bengal, India, 10-12 armed militants shot and killed seven Forward Bloc workers on suspicion that they were police informers. The victims were identified as Chapala Garai, Tapan Singh Sardar, Kinkar Singh, Rajesh Singh, Gopeswar Mahato, Gobardhan Singh and Arjun Singh Mura. According to police, the victims were taken from their homes and shot at close range in a field in the hilly village bordering Jharkhand. Reportedly, the militants first raided the house of Chandicharan Singh Sardar, president of the local level Gitalaya village government, and upon discovering the he was not at home, took his brother Tapan Singh Sardar and killed him near the house. The militants then took the six remaining victims to the field in which their bodies were discovered. The Communist Party of India-Maoists (CPI-M) claimed responsibility for the attack. Maoist posters left at the incident site claimed that the villagers were spying for the security personnel.
Overview
GTD ID:
201012170011
When:
2010-12-17
Country:
India
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
West Bengal
City:
Bagbinda
Location Details:
The attack took place in the Baghbinda village in Jhalda, Puruliya.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
Indian Forward Bloc Workers |
Specific Description |
Seven Forward Bloc workers |
Nationality of Target |
India |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Unknown |
Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Unknown Gun Type |
Weapon Details |
Unknown firearms were used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The victims were identified as Chapala Garai, Tapan Singh Sardar, Kinkar Singh, Rajesh Singh, Gopeswar Mahato, Gobardhan Singh and Arjun Singh Mura. The most recent available sources listed the fatalities for this attack from five to seven, so the majority casualty figures have been used in order to preserve statistical accuracy in the database. The available sources listed the number of perpetrators for this attack from 10 to 12, and because no majority figures were reported, the lowest proferred number of perpetrators reported was used in order to preserve statistical accuracy in the database. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
10 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
7 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
7 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Times of India, "Maoists Kill Five Villagers," Press Trust of India, December 17, 2010, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Maoists-kill-five-villagers/articleshow/7115982.cms |
Jane’s Intelligence, “Suspected CPI-M Militants Kill Seven Civilians in India's West Bengal,” Terrorism Watch Report, BBC, December 17, 2010. |
South Asia Terrorism Portal, "Maoists Kill Seven Foward Bloc Workers in West Bengal," Hindu, http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/detailed_news3.asp?date3=2010%2F12%2F18&image2.x=6&image2.y=12#2 (December 18, 2010). |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties