DIG (railways) KS Anupam (centre) and other personnel near Kundar Halt on Friday. Picture by Amit Kumar

Patna, June 14: The Jamui outrage on Thursday has exposed chinks in the Bihar armoury. The police had received intelligence inputs about an impending attack.

“Yes, there was an alert about possible attacks in the Jamui-Lakhisarai region. But the alert didn’t mention any particular area,” DIG (railways) K.S. Anupam said.

“We have information about the route they took while retreating and a manhunt has been launched,” she told The Telegraph from Jamui. Lakhisarai SP Rajiv Mishra said there was a general alert about Maoists congregating. “The police carried out search operations in the forests and in some villages considered safe Maoist hideouts,” he said. But they had no inkling about the presence of so many armed squad members, including women cadres, who carried out the brazen daylight attack.

The Lakhisarai SP claims the police reached the spot 45 minutes after receiving information, but Dhanbad-Patna Intercity Express passengers deny it. “The DGP told a passenger, who texted him within five minutes of the attack, that the police operation has begun. But no police personnel were seen even an hour after the attack,” said a passenger. (See Metro and Page 5)

Although the state’s 21 districts are grappling with the Maoist menace, Bihar does not have a unified command. A senior CRPF official speaking on condition of anonymity said the state had never launched any Greenhunt-type operation against the Reds. In a recent letter to the state home deparment, the Union ministry expressed displeasure over the state police’s “soft stance” against the Maoists. “The operation against the Maoists is quite slow…The state’s approach towards Maoists is lukewarm,” read the MHA’s letter.

MHA has reportedly sought a detailed report from the state on the attack that claimed three lives. RPF director general P.K. Mehta reached Patna on Friday and met senior officials, including DGP Abhayanand.

Hunt for Siddhi Koda

Sources said security forces were in hot pursuit of top Maoist leader Siddhi Koda, who reportedly masterminded the train attack. Koda is a self-styled zonal commander in eastern Bihar. His wife too took part in the attack. “She is an active member of the outfit’s women’s squad. It is believed that she had taken part in the attack on the Congress leaders’ convoy in Chhattisgarh a few weeks ago,” a source said.