Purulia (WB), Jan 2: A CPI-M leader was gunned down by a gang of ten suspected Maoists at Besra village in West Bengal’s Purulia District late on Tuesday night.

The suspected Maoists raided Palan Kumar’s house and called him outside.

According to police, before pumping bullets into his body, he was tied to a tree.

The Maoists left the place and moved towards Jharkhand border, they added.

Kumar, 45, had been in the target list of the Maoists for sometime.

The party's local unit has called a six-hour shutdown in the Balarampur police station area.

According to Union Home Ministry report, 76 districts in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are 'badly affected by Maoist violence'.

Maoists say they are fighting on behalf of the rural poor and landless and want to build a Communist state. (ANI)