Feb. 27: The rumour of nine bullet-riddled bodies lying on Ayodhya hills in Purulia was planted to trap security forces, arrested CPI (Maoist) state chief Somen has apparently told the CID.

The police had, however, decided against climbing the hills on the night of February 19. “The rumour spread like wild fire that evening. Now it is clear that had policemen from Purulia town headed straight for the hills, the guerrillas would have ambushed them,” said a CID officer.

The rumour spread a couple of days after Orissa and Jharkhand police launched a massive crackdown following the rebels’ offensive in Nayagarh. On the night of February 15, some 500 rebels carried out simultaneous attacks on Nayagarh. Sixteen people were killed in the attack.

“The Maoists believed that 11 of their prominent activists were killed in the counteroffensive and so they planned the revenge strike. Since Ayodhya hills falls on the Bengal-Jharkhand border, they thought Jharkhand police will join their Bengal counterparts and rush to the hills,” said an officer of the CID, which arrested Somen from Hridaypur station on February 23.

The plan proved to be futile. “A large police contingent split into five groups and scanned the Ayodhya forests on February 20,” said the officer. Maoists have several hideouts and base camps in the forest, he added.