Maoists have killed three on Friday night in the jungles of Kushbani, barely 40 kms away from Midnapore town where West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is supposed to reach on Saturday afternoon for a two-day visit.

The bodies of Lakshmi Das, Manoranjan and Joyram, apparently in their twenties and thirties, were found lying on the state highway connecting Jhargram and Belpahari about 200 kms to the west of Kolkata.

Posters of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) were found near the bodies. The feet of one of the bodies were tied with a rope.

"They have been given the ultimate punishment for being police informers," claimed one of the posters.

The spot of the crime was in Binpur I block, bordering Jharkhand.

Ironically, it was on Friday itself that three additional companies of CRPF were deployed in and around Lalgarh, raising the total count to 30 companies. Three more companies have been retained in Midnapore town for security cover during the Chief Minister's visit.

Bhattacharjee is supposed to review the status of development programmes in West Midnapore district, that has become a hotbed of maoist activity since his visit on 2 November last year to lay the foundation stone of the Rs 35,000 crore (Rs 350 billion) integrated steeel plant of Sajjan Jindal.

While the Chief Minister was returning the Maoists exploded a landmine that missed his convoy by a few minutes. It was the first attempt on the life of any Chief Minister in Bengal and triggered a massive manhunt in the region, ultimately giving rise to Maoist resistance.