Guwahati/Jalpaiguri, Jan. 17: A Bengal police team swooped on a house on the outskirts of Guwahati late last night and picked up a National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) leader for his suspected role in the train blast near Siliguri in November.

A Bengal team had been keeping watch on the house in Sapta village that Ganesh Rabha alias Jagadish, a rebel “commander”, had rented.

On November 20, a blast had ripped through a compartment of the Haldibari-New Jalpaiguri Passenger at Belakoba station, 28 km from Siliguri, killing eight persons.

The NDFB, in a ceasefire with the Assam and central governments, reacted angrily. Its spokesman, S. Sanjarang, said Bengal police arrested Rabha in violation of the ceasefire rules.

Assam police said the operation was conducted by their Bengal counterparts on the basis of data culled by their own sources. The rebels would enforce a 12-hour national highway blockade in Assam from 4 am on Thursday.