The prime accused in the massacre of 16 people in a village in Khagaria four years ago was arrested from Haryana this morning.

A team of the Bihar Special Task Force arrested Manoj Sada and his close associate Sanjay Sada from a house in Jhajhar district in Haryana following a tip-off. .

The two had been staying in Haryana for a long time to evade arrest.

Inspector-general of police (operations) Amit Kumar said Manoj was one of the main accused in the killing of 16 farmers of Ichwara village in Khagaria on the midnight of October 1, 2009. The massacre, the first in Nitish Kumar’s reign as chief minister, was carried out by a group of armed men owing allegiance to the CPI (Maoists).

Manoj, 29, a resident of Pirpanti village under the jurisdiction of Alauli police station in Khagaria district, was the right hand man of Budhan Sada, a self-proclaimed area commander of the banned Maoist outfit. Budhan, along with 15 others, was convicted by a Khagaria court in the case last year and is at present lodged in the jail there.

Khagaria superintendent of police Deepak Barnawal said Manoj was an active member of the CPI (Maoists) and had been involved in at least 10 incidents of violence in the district as well as in Begusarai and Saharsa. “Though Manoj was not named accused in the FIR, he had played an important role in the massacre,” Barnawal said.

The SP said Manoj’s name had figured during the investigation. “The police were on Manoj’s lookout for a long time. But he had fled to Haryana,” Barnawal said, adding that both the arrested accused would be brought to Khagaria from Haryana on transit remand and produced in the local court.

Sources said that of the 16 people killed, 14 belonged to the Kurmi caste and two were Koeris. The incident was a result of the ongoing attrition between the landowners and the Mahadalits over possession of Bhudan (government) land in Amousi village, adjacent to Ichwara where they resided. Those killed were attacked while sleeping in their huts on the disputed land, around 4km from their native village. The attackers had shot dead the 16 persons, many of who were teenagers, after tying their hands and feet.

The police said that a total of 37 people were made named accused in the FIR lodged with the police station concerned on the statement of Paro Singh, who had survived the carnage. Of the 37 accused, 16 were held guilty by additional district and sessions judge C.B. Dwivedi, who pronounced his judgment on February 14, 2012. But the remaining 21 were acquitted by the court for lack of evidence. Of the 16 convicted, 10 were sentenced to death and six were handed out life imprisonment.

Khagaria SP Barnawal said Manoj, who is engaged in war of supremacy in the riverine belt of the district, would be taken on police remand for interrogation in connection with the mass killings.