Sardiha, May 30: The Maoists had sabotaged train tracks at Rajabandh to stall the Mumbai-bound Jnaneswari Express and rob its passengers, said villagers whose help the guerrillas had allegedly sought.

“They had not bargained for the disaster that followed after some derailed bogies were hit by the goods train,” said a resident of Akhrashole, ab- out 6km from Rajabandh.

The villagers said they came to know of the Maoist plan to derail a train when they were approached to join in a “mission” with sledgehammers, pickaxes, crowbars and iron rods. Some of the villagers did not turn up for the job on Thursday night despite the lure of a share of the spoils.

“Earlier this week, we had been told that we would have to go with our hammers and pickaxes to damage the railway tracks. Then the Maoist squad members would board the compartments and rob the passengers. We were told we would get a share of the loot but some of us were scared. Raids by the joint forces on Wednesday and Thursday had left us shaken. So, many of us did not go to the railway tracks fearing that it would bring the joint forces after us again,” said Sanjay Mahato (name changed) of Kusumghati.

Two members of a “village defence squad”, whom the guerrillas had trained in the use of arms and are finding difficult to control now, had allegedly led the track sabotage mission.

Police officers said the two of them had played a key role in many incidents of arson, looting, extortion and murder in areas within 20km of Jhargram town in the past year.

According to the police, Bapi, 20, who lives 7km from Rajabandh, joined the squad last year and has since worked closely with Umakanta, 35, from neighbouring Bankshole.

Bapi has studied till Class XII. Umakanta dropped out of school when in Class VIII. He was an activist of the Jharkhand Party (Aditya) before joining the Maoists. “Both used to work for Dhanapati Mahato, the leader of the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities in the region, and were among the accused in the blockade of the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani last October,” an officer said.

“They have extorted money from schoolteachers, government employees and businessmen, set fire to trucks that violated bandhs and had a hand in at least 15 murders,” said West Midnapore superintendent of police Manoj Verma.

Umakanta was arrested in December, but he obtained bail in March as the police failed to submit a chargesheet. Dhanapati, who was arrested in January, walked out of jail in April. “We had requested the court for more time as there were many cases against them,” a police officer said.

Dhanapati slipped into the background after his release and Bapi and Umakanta apparently took charge of the village squads in the area.

The police have not been able to lay their hands on Bapi yet.

“We had tried to arrest Bapi on many occasions but he gave us the slip each time,” said superintendent Verma.

According to a police officer, the youths in the village squads, formed by the guerrilla leaders, lack discipline and often act on their own. “They have become a Frankenstein’s monster.”