Maoists look for ‘traitor’

Calcutta, Feb. 24: The CPI (Maoist) is trying to identify the “traitor” in its ranks whose tips to police led to the arrest of the outfit’s Bengal chief, a rebel leader told The Telegraph today.

He said the informer was clearly close to Somen, the Maoists’ state secretary, and had precise knowledge about his movements.

Somen, 52, was grabbed by plain-clothes detectives on a railway platform in North 24-Parganas’ Hridaypur, 25km from Calcutta, as he was talking to associate Dilip Mandi alias Deba last evening.

The Maoist source who spoke to this newspaper said the traitor would not only have revealed the time and venue of Somen’s rendezvous but also described him to the police.

“None of the CID officers had seen Somen; they had no idea what he looked like. The lone photograph the department has is at least 20 years old and faded. Someone was at the railway station to point him out from a distance,” he said.

The source said the informer must have mentioned Somen’s stammer, which the CID said helped its sleuths confirm they had the right man.

The source hinted at a faction fight in the CPI (Maoist), formed through a merger between People’s War, to which Somen belonged, and the Maoist Communist Centre, which he had left years ago.

“Many MCC leaders felt sidelined by Somen in the Bengal sector,” he said, adding: “The post of Bengal secretary will be filled soon but the arrest is a setback. We must find the traitor to prevent any more leaks.”

CID sleuths conceded they had only one photograph of Somen. “We tried to get a clearer one but could not,” an officer said.

A Barasat magistrate today remanded Somen in police custody till March 7. He has been charged with seven offences, including waging war against the state, criminal conspiracy and carrying arms illegally. A Serampore court remanded Deba till February 28.

Somen’s wife Sikha Sen Roy, who was in court, said: “I had no idea about his activities but I believe they were not anti-national.”

Officers said that Somen, under questioning, revealed he had met three comrades yesterday morning at a house they had rented in Nabapalli, North 24-Parganas.

The CID drove him to the neighbourhood last night and again this morning, when Somen identified the house, owned by a man named Jayanta Ghosh.

“Somen’s three associates had fled. We seized documents, a laptop, gelatine sticks and some ammunition,” an officer said. “He was also taken to Badu in Madhyamgram but failed to identify the house he had visited recently.”

Another detective said Somen’s aides in Hooghly and North 24-Parganas — areas the leader had been touring in recent weeks — had been using cellphones. “We tried to track their movements by locating the mobile towers but the idea didn’t work.”