Jamshedpur/Jhargram, June 20: Police today arrested Bapi Mahato, a prime accused in last month’s Jnaneswari Express sabotage that claimed 150 lives, from a guesthouse a kilometre from Jamshedpur.

In a joint operation by Bengal and Jharkhand police that began around 3am, Bapi, a member of a village defence squad raised by Maoists, was arrested from Rai Guest House at Adityapur.

The police, who were in mufti, first picked up one of his relatives, Bimal Mahato, from Adityapur Bustee and then raided the guesthouse where they found Bapi in room number 107. Bapi had checked in as Bimal Mahato.

Guesthouse officials said that around 9.30am, a group of six policemen arrived, spoke to the receptionist and went straight to 107. The moment the door was opened, they grabbed the man inside, wrapped his head with a bedsheet they picked up from the room and asked him to accompany them.

Naveen Kumar Singh, the senior superintendent of police, East Singhbhum, said: “A team of Bengal police with the assistance of the local police arrested Bapi Mahato. The accused has confessed his involvement in the sabotage.”

On May 28, the Jnaneswari Express had derailed at West Midnapore’s Rajabandh because the Pandrol clips that tie tracks to sleepers had been removed.

A goods train coming from the opposite direction had slammed into the Jnaneswari’s coaches that had come off the tracks and tilted into its path.

Unsettled by the high death count, the Maoists had tried to give the impression that a rogue local group was responsible for the sabotage. Police sources suggested the Maoists had denied Bapi refuge for acting without the leadership’s sanction.

That Bapi had used his relative’s name to check in at the guesthouse and given Bimal’s cellphone number there suggests he may have been left to fend for himself.

Brajesh Pradhan, the manager of the guesthouse where a room costs Rs 100 a night, said: “At about 11.30pm on June 17, a man had turned up and asked for a room. He gave his name as Bimal Mahato and gave his address as C Road, Adityapur Bustee.

“As he had come late at night I did not question him much. Moreover, we are not in the habit of asking a customer too many questions.”

Bimal’s mother told The Telegraph that Bapi was their relative and had been to their house once four years ago.

The elderly lady who refused to give her name said: “Bimal’s in-laws’ house is at Hairatara village near Kalaikunda (in West Midnapore). I do not know why the police took my son away.”

Police source said Bimal, who has three daughters, had married into Bapi’s family. It could not be confirmed if his wife was Bapi’s sister. Bapi’s village, Rasua, is about 30km from Hairatara.

Bapi and Bimal, who works in a factory in the Adityapur industrial area, were being interrogated at the MGM police station on the outskirts of the steel city by Bengal and Jharkhand police.

Praveen Tripathi, the SP of Jhargram, said that a CBI team was in Adityapur interrogating Bapi. “He will be produced in court in Seraikela (in Jharkhand) tomorrow. We will try to bring him to Jhargram tomorrow or Tuesday after the CBI takes him on transit remand.”

Asked how the police tracked him down, Tripathi said: “We received information from sources.”

With Bapi’s arrest, the police have now picked up five people in connection with the Jnaneswari massacre.

Bapi is one of the three prime accused in the case, the other two being Umakanta and Asit Mahato.