A top Maoist leader had sent written instructions to Bapi Mahato ordering him to carry out the train sabotage to cause maximum casualties. The arrested activist of People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA) has revealed this to the police during interrogation. State director general of police Bhupinder Singh informed this on Wednesday. “The leader is a central committee member of the CPI(Maoist) who has a very strong command in the Jangalmahal,” he said.
Mr Singh, however, refused to name the leader. The police also learnt that the rebels had taken away Bapi from his house at Rasua village in Jhargram of West Midnapore on May 30, two days after the sabotage. “The Maoists kept him in their hideout for four days. Later Bapi managed to escape from their custody,” Mr Singh added.
Meanwhile another accused in the Gyaneswari Express sabotage was detained at Kharagpur. Mantu Mahato, an associate of Bapi was caught during a joint raid of the state police and the CBI from an abandoned house in the remotest corner of a colony on Wednesday morning. The pro-Maoist activist from Manikpara village in Jhargram was on the run since the carnage.
The CBI traced out Mantu’s name and cellphone number while examining the SIM card recovered from Bapi. Official sources disclosed that Mantu used to maintain daily contacts with Bapi, the mastermind. Subsequently the investigators put Mantu’s number under surveillance to track down his exact whereabouts.
The officers of the joint investigation team interrogated Mantu for several hours. He is likely to be arrested.