Mahato being taken to court on Sunday. (Samir Mondal)

Midnapore, Oct. 18: Police today got Lalgarh leader Chhatradhar Mahato’s custody in connection with an alleged murder in June.

He would have been taken away to Jharkhand tomorrow for another trial had the Bengal police not got hold of him today. “Now, he would be with us,” said a Bengal officer.

The Bengal police were desperate to get the Maoist-backed leader they had arrested on September 26 because he is believed to be holding back crucial information on guerrilla whereabouts in the region.

They had slapped a fresh murder case against Mahato on October 12 after being denied his custody in connection with another case.

The public prosecutor told the Jhargram additional chief judicial magistrate’s court today that the police had got crucial information from Mahato’s interrogation in Presidency Jail, Calcutta, and sought two weeks of police custody for further questioning. Sheikh Mohammad Rezza granted four days.

The police, though, are happy because it ensures Mahato stays in Bengal and that he can be moved around for the sake of investigation, a liberty judicial custody doesn’t allow.

This evening, he was lodged in an undisclosed location.

CID and district police officers and lawyers had met in Midnapore town on October 11 and apparently decided to slap cases against Mahato one after the other and appeal for his custody both in the Jhargram and Midnapore courts. He was charged with the murder of CPM supporter Prabir Mahato on October 12.

Alleged People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities activists had picked up Prabir from his house near Lalgarh town on June 14. He was never found. On August 14, his brother Amiya lodged an FIR alleging Prabir had been murdered and named Mahato as one of the accused.

Public prosecutor Moloy Bhadra told the Jhargram court today that Mahato’s interrogation had thrown fresh light on the “murder”. “We have come to know what actually happened that day (June 14) and who all were involved. For the sake of the investigation, we need to take him (Mahato) to several places,” Bhadra said.

Mahato’s lawyer prayed for his bail, saying: “My client has already been charged in nine cases. Why wasn’t he charged in this case before? Why was the FIR lodged after two months? The police’s intention is to somehow keep him in custody,” argued Sinha.

The murder charge, he alleged, is fabricated. “The alleged murder was committed on June 14 and the FIR was lodged two months later in the district police chief’s office. My client has been framed.”

Asked about the two-month delay, investigating officer Asit Samanta pleaded ignorance saying he had started working on the case at a later stage. Additional chief judicial magistrate Rezza did not like the reply: “It appears to me … the police administration has failed to follow the law from the beginning of this case.”

The public prosecutor said that at the time the murder, villagers in the area were too scared to go to the police because of Mahato’s Maoist-backed committee. “Many had fled their homes. So the delay.”