Before being shot,SP called for help

Balihar had also called his family while leaving Dumka town,where he had gone to attend a meeting called by newly appointed DIG Priya Dubey.

It is suspected that a group of CPI Maoist cadres led by zonal commander Pradeep Majhi alias Praveer carried out the attack.

Maoists had taken positions mostly on the right side of the road near a culvert on the Kathikund-Amrapara road,about two km into the forest. The attack began as the two vehicles a Scorpio with the SP,gunman and driver and a Bolero with a driver and five gunmen slowed down to negotiate the culvert.

The Maoists clearly knew which car to target all except the right rear tyre of the Scorpio has been shot out,while the Bolero has all four intact. The SPs body was found in a gutter by the road,shot possibly around the time he had just finished calling for help.

There have been reports that the SP ignored a warning by the Special Branch about attacks on officers in the wake of an ongoing operation in Latehar. There was an input,but there was no specific information, said an officer. The police,meanwhile,intensified combing operations in Dumka and Pakur for Maoists.