Bholanath Mahato being led into the courtroom. Picture by Samir Mondal

Midnapore, June 19: The CBI today arrested a paper mill supervisor who was allegedly part of the gang that had removed clips from railway tracks and got the Jnaneswari Express derailed.

Bholanath Mahato, 27, is a Bengali honours graduate and an activist of the Maoist-backed People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities, sources said.

CBI sleuths got him from his friend’s house at Khemasuli, barely 3km from the train crash site at Rajabandh.

“Bholanath was directly involved in the sabotage. He went to Rajabandh with Bapi Mahato, the prime suspect, and joined the Maoists in removing the Pandrol clips,” a CBI officer said.

Bholanath is said to have confessed to his involvement in the sabotage. The Jhargram court sent him to police custody till June 28.

The young man hails from Lalgeria, about 20km from Rajabandh. But his workplace, the mill at Manikpara where he was a supervisor under a contractor, is only 6km from the crash site.

Bholanath had allegedly joined the Maoists six months ago and proved an asset because of his education. “He has done Bengali honours from Manikpara Vivekananda Satabarshiki College under Vidyasagar University. He was one of the few educated people in the rebel ranks here and proved very competent,” an officer said.

One of his jobs in the People’s Committee was to write Maoist posters, which were couriered to guerrillas across Jungle Mahal.

His day job — in the mill — helped him keep his other identity under wraps, an officer said.

“Unlike other suspects, he didn’t run away immediately after the May 28 train tragedy. Bholanath thought no one would suspect him. We started looking for him after going through the call lists of the two prime suspects. Bholanath used to talk frequently to Bapi and Umakanta Mahato,” the officer said.

The young man apparently realised he was under watch after local policemen visited his house several times before the CBI was handed charge of the investigation. “He left home on June 14 and kept changing his hideouts,” a CBI officer said.

Today’s was the fourth arrest in connection with the sabotage that killed 150 people. Earlier this week, the CBI had arrested a People’s Committee member who worked as a supervisor for railway contractors.

Before that, the state police had arrested two men, including one who allegedly drove some of the Maoists to and from the sabotage site.