Statue of slain superintendent of police KC Surendra Babu in front of Kharagpur Anchal. Telegraph picture

Bhagalpur, Feb. 14: The sensational disclosure of a Maoist, Vivishan Pandit, that he had played a major role in the murder of Munger superintendent of police K.C. Surendra Babu has baffled the cops.

“We assembled in Suggi Khar forest to finalise the plan of attack on Belhar police station,” said Pandit, who is now in custody.

Banka superintendent of police Shyam Kumar said a joint team of the district police and CRPF, led by Belhar police station officer-in-charge Manoranjan Bharti and CRPF commandant Rajesh Kumar arrested Pandit yesterday.

Pandit is a native of Ghogaladehi village under Haveli Kharagpur police station in Munger. The team surrounded Suggi Khar forest near Badua dam on the border of Banka and Jamui.

Bharti said other Maoists, including Birbal Murmu and Nagendra, managed to escape with a dozen others. Police also recovered 50kg of explosives, a musket and cartridges, along with Naxalite literature.

“About three days ago, Maoists had put up posters at Sahebganj market, about 2km from Belhar police station. The incident alerted us that an armed Maoist squad was present nearby. We engaged our sources to find them,” said Bharti.

Shyam said in the course of investigations, police had discovered that dozens of Naxalites had planned the attack on Belhar police station. Around 1,000 Maoist activists and 50 vehicles had also been arranged.

Pandit was also wanted by police in other districts for his involvement in a number of incidents like the attack on Bihjar Military Police camp at Akbarnagar in Bhagalpur, attack on Lakshmipur police station in Jamui, rescue of Maoist Mishri Besra from police custody at Lakhisarai, attack on Government Railway Police camp at Kajra railway station at Lakhisarai, killing of a chowkidar and another person at Haveli Kharaghpur, kidnapping of a block development officer from Deoghar in Jharkhand for extortion, murder of Rajo Hansdak at Belhar.

Bharati said the police had also extracted vital clues from the arrested Maoist.

Pandit has revealed to the police that top Naxalite leaders were scheduled to visit the area to carry out the attack on Belhar police station. He had also informed the police about where Maoists had stocked sophisticated weapons. Police had started raids based on this information.

The Banka police are on its toes, said a police source. High-ranking officers from Bhagalpur also instructed Banka police to keep strict vigil over every development in the region.

Kumar told reporters that a red alert has been sent in the district particularly to police stations like Belhar, which are located in inaccessible areas, near the border with Maoist-hit Jamui district and Deoghar district of Jharkhand.