Sardiha, May 30: Maoists had sabotaged train tracks to stall the Mumbai-bound Jnaneswari Express and rob its passengers, said villagers whose help the guerrillas had allegedly sought.

“They had not bargained for the disaster that followed after the derailed bogies were hit by the goods train,” said a resident of Akhrashole, about 6km from Rajabandh, where the disaster occurred.

The villagers said they came to know of the Maoist plan to derail a train when they were approached to join in a “mission” with sledgehammers, pickaxes, crowbars and iron rods.

Some of the villagers did not turn up for the job on Thursday midnight despite the lure of a share of the spoils.

“Earlier this week we were told that we would have to go with our hammers and axes to damage the railway tracks. Then the squad members were supposed to board the compartments and rob the passengers. We were told we would get a share of the loot but some of us were scared. Raids by the joint forces on Wednesday and Thursday left us shaken. So, many of us did not go to the railway tracks thinking that it would bring the joint forces on us again,” said Sanjay Mahato of Kusumghati. The name has been changed.

Two members of a “village defence squad”, comprising hotheads whom the guerrillas had trained in the use of arms and are finding difficult to control now, had allegedly led the track sabotage mission.

Police officers said the two of them had played a key role in many cases of arson, looting, extortion and murder in areas within 20km of Jhargram town in the past year.

According to the police, Bapi, 20, a resident of Rasua village, joined the squad last year, and has since worked closely with Umakanta, 35, a resident of neighbouring Bankshole.

Bapi has studied till Class XII. Umakanta dropped out of school when in Class VIII. He was an activist of the Jharkhand Party (Aditya) before joining the Maoists.

“Both of them worked for Dhanapati Mahato, the leader of the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities in the region, and were among the accused in the blockade of the Rajdhani Express last October,” a police officer said.

“They have extorted money from schoolteachers, government employees and businessmen, set fire to trucks that violated bandhs and had a hand in at least 15 murders,” said West Midnapore superintendent of police Manoj Verma.

Umakanta was arrested in December, but he obtained bail in March as the police failed to submit a chargesheet. “We had requested the court for more time as there were many cases against him,” a police officer said.

The police have not been able to lay their hands on Bapi yet. He became a leader when Umakanta was in jail and is now the one who controls Maoist operations in the region.

“We have tried to arrested Bapi a number of times but he gave us the slip each time,” said Verma.

Dhanapati has slipped into the background since his release and the police said Bapi and Umakanta were now the leaders of the village squads in the area.

According to the police, these youths lack discipline and often act on their own. 'They have become a Frankenstein's monster that the Maoists can no longer control,' a police officer had said yesterday.