Four jawans of Eastern Frontier Rifles were shot dead by suspected Maoists at Gidhni, near Jhargram in Midnapore, West Bengal on Sunday.

The Maoists ambushed a jeep carrying the jawans at around 5.30 pm. Arms may also have been snatched by the Naxals.

Three others, including an officer, were also in the jeep.

This comes a week after Maoists held a Rajdhani Express train hostage in Jhargram.

PTI adds:

Claiming responsibility for gunning down the jawans, the CPI (Maoists) on Sunday night dared the West Bengal and Central governments to deploy as much forces as they wanted in the trouble-torn West Midnapore district.

"We have killed the four jawans as they tortured innocent school children who had taken out a rally in the area yesterday demanding the educational institutions be vacated by joint security forces and their classes resume at the earliest," Maoist leader Koteshar Rao alias Kishanji said from an undisclosed destination.

"We will win the war. Let the Centre deploy as much forces as they want," the top Maoist leader shot back.

To a question if the attack was a challenge posed by the Maoists to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee who left the district just two hours back, Kishanji retorted "But we have long before challenged the central and state governments, and as I have just said, the war is on."

Kuldip Singh, IG (Western Range), said the jawans of the Eastern Frontier Rifles were attacked when they were patrolling near a police camp close to a school in Gidhni Bazaar area under Jamboni police station.

The bodies of all the four jawans were lying at the bazaar area. The Maoists escaped with arms looted from the slain jawans.

The incident took place after the Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and senior state government officials left West Midnapore district for Kolkata after a two-day visit, police said.

On Saturday, the Maoists had killed three youths hours before the chief minister's arrival in the district.

The bullet-riddled bodies of Lakhi Das, Jayram Mandi and Manoranjan, all Jharkhand Party activists, were found with their hands and legs bound on a road in Kusbani jungle, about 70 km from Midnapore town.

The ultras had also shot at and injured a former Marxist legislator.