KOLKATA: India deployed troops to West Bengal on Wednesday to tackle an upsurge in Maoist violence after days of clashes between tribal villagers and police. India’s home minister said more than 1,100 central forces had been sent to the eastern state over the last few days, with more on standby to quell attacks against the state’s ruling Communists, six of whose workers have been killed since Sunday. “Central paramilitary forces are available in adequate numbers and they will aid and assist the state police,” P Chidambaram said. Thousands of villagers in Lalgarh, 130 km from Kolkata, ransacked and torched police camps and houses belonging to communist leaders and stopped troops from entering the area. “Villagers dug out roads and blocked the roads with wooden trunks,” said police Inspector General Raj Kanojia. The villagers accuse authorities in the state of committing atrocities against them and neglecting development in the region. Police say Maoist guerrillas are aiding tribal villagers who dominate Lalgarh and surrounding areas. Earlier today, suspected Maoist rebels shot dead three Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) activists at a tea shop in the village of Jhargram, 178 km southwest of Kolkata, said Kanojia. The rebels are also suspected of gunning down another three CPM workers on Sunday morning. Home Minister Chidambaram said it was the West Bengal government’s responsibility to tackle the “deteriorating” security situation in the state. “They must move the forces to the affected areas and must reclaim that area which is now dominated by the Maoists,” he said, adding that central forces were only meant to reinforce state police. “In my talks with the chief minister, I told him that in our view the state police must be given a clear mandate and clear instructions.”