Hatidoba (Belpahari), Nov. 22: A Maoist squad led by Madan Mahato, a lean five-and- a-half-footer in his mid-30s, is suspected to have triggered yesterday’s blast to scare away jawans posted in a camp set up nearby.

“Members of the action squad were doing the rounds of villages like Hatidoba, Nekraachra and Nischindipur and also held a meeting there recently,” a police officer working on the case said.

The personnel at the Tarafeni camp have commando training. The landmine triggered by a remote-controlled device targeted a train of jawans patrolling the Belpahari-Barikul road, 235 km from Calcutta. Four jawans were injured, one of them seriously.

“The group of 15, on patrol over the past few days, was closing in on the guerrillas,” said R. Rajsekharan, the West Midnapore superintendent.

Mahato is wanted in connection with many cases, including the explosion in February 2004 that killed seven policemen and the driver of their vehicle in Kankrajhor.

Sleuths said more shows of strength are likely in the run-up to the anniversary of the formation of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army from December 2-8.

Employees of the Tarafeni drinking water pumping station, whose two staff members were held in connection with the blast, have stopped supply in protest.