Midnapore, Dec. 17: A reporter working for a Burdwan newspaper has been arrested for his alleged involvement in last week’s Maoist attack on a train from Tatanagar.

Jharkhand police raided Chitto Mahato’s house in West Midnapore’s Shilda, about 210 km from Calcutta, last night.

Last Sunday, armed extremists had stopped the Kharagpur-bound train shouting slogans against farmland acquisition for Tata Motors in Singur. The train was forced to a halt minutes after it left Chakulia station and chugged into a forest. The attackers snatched the walkie-talkies of the guard and the driver and robbed two Railway Protection Force jawans of their rifles. One of the jawans was thrown out of the train when he resisted.

Police said Mahato, 30, was part of the train-raid conspiracy. “He showed the attackers escape routes through the jungle and helped them in other ways,” said S.P. Burnwal, the subdivisional police officer of Ghatshila, Jharkhand.

A day after the incident, Mahato had requested Jhargram block development officer Ullash Chatterjee to let him use his fax machine, saying he was expecting an “urgent message” from a friend. Then he allegedly sent himself a message from a shop at Shilda.

“Half of the message came and then the line got disconnected. It was purportedly from the rebels to the reporter about the train raid,” said a Bengal police officer.

The police traced the shop from where the fax was sent. “Its owner confirmed that Chitto Mahato had sent it,” Burnwal confirmed.

“The faxed message had been forwarded to West Midnapore district magistrate B.P. Barat, who kept superintendent of police R. Rajsekharan posted about it. The Jharkhand police were also informed,” the Bengal officer said.

In Mahato’s house, the police found pamphlets and other papers related to CPI (Maoist) activities. “We expect vital leads from him,” said a Jharkhand officer.

Mahato is said to have confessed to having attended meetings in which the train raid was chalked out.

Sukhdeb Soren, who was allegedly involved in several attacks in Bengal’s Maoist terrain, was held in Ghatshila yesterday. “Soren, who is now in Bengal police’s custody, has confirmed that he knows Chitto Mahato,” said Burnwal.