Police crack down on encroachers on the stretch of road between Chaibasa Divisional Jail and Chaibasa Court on Thursday. Picture by Srinivas

Jamshedpur, Jan. 20: On a hunt for the three fugitive Maoists of Chaibasa Divisional Jail, police and paramilitary personnel last night rounded up four other rebels, including a top-notch rebel levy kingpin, from Manoharpur in the Saranda forest belt of West Singhbhum.

While levy lord Marshal Bhuiyan is a member of the Chotanagpur regional committee of the CPI(Maoist), Nelson Bhuiyan, Prem Chand Bhuiyan and Pinky Bhuiyan are said to be very active in the banned outfit.

West Singhbhum SP Arun Kumar Singh conceded that Marshal was indeed a prize catch. He is a Maoist levy kingpin and has held different posts in the outfit, including that of an area commander and a zonal commander in the Saranda region.

He is wanted in connection with as many as 10 cases in West Singhbhum district. The SP said a landmine blast triggered by the hardcore rebel in Saranda in 2009 had left three police officers and as many as seven CRPF jawans dead.

Prem Chand Bhuiyan is also a rebel veteran and is president of the Krantikari Kishan Samiti, an offshoot of the CPI(Maoist).

Singh said the arrests took place when police and paramilitary forces were carrying out an intensive combing operation in Saranda for the three Maoists who had fled the Chaibasa jail in the wee hours on Monday.

Motilal Soren alias Sandeep, Raghunath Hembrom alias Nirbhay and Mangru Mahto alias Dhirendra had escaped by cutting open the ventilator grille of their cell.

“We have not been able to get any lead on the trio, but raids in the jungle are continuing,” the SP added.

Meanwhile, the district police today initiated steps to decongest the road leading to Chaibasa civil court from the jail. At least 50 petty shops were dismantled during the drive.

Singh said the stretch of road between the jail and court was a high-security zone and the administration would not allow any kind of encroachment.

“Makeshift shops on either side of the road cause severe congestion. We had earlier warned the shopkeepers, but they ignored us,” he said.

Besides cracking down on encroachers, the district police also conducted random checks at hotels, bus stands and other public places throughout the day.