Immediately after the Nanoor massacre, the CPI(M) had tried to confuse the public by initially referring to those killed as dacoits and so on.
The Hindu wrote, "On a long term, the killings, symbolizing the birth of a new theater of violence after Keshpur in district Midnapore - where deaths and maiming in political clashes have become a bizarre routine - constitute an extremely disturbing augury for the society in Bengal" [REF].