Initial inquiries have shown that CPI (Maoist) zonal commander Mritunjay recently held a series of meetings with villagers of Bargar, reportedly encouraging them to demand relocation of a health centre coming up in a building in the village. The police believe the idea was that a protest would bring in the police, who would then be targeted. The mukhiya of Bargar, Ram Das Minz, is being interrogated for "links" with Mritunjay.

It was as part of this plan, authorities say, that a bandh and road jam were held near Bargar yesterday morning. Minz called up the officer-in-charge of Bhandaria police station, Rajbali Choudhary, for help in ending the protest. Choudhary, in turn, called up Block Development Officer Basdev Prasad to look into the villagers' demands.

While Prasad was able to reach the village unhurt, Naxals struck at Choudhary's convoy that followed him, 22 km from Bargar. Choudhary was among the 13 killed.

Daniel Soren, a Jharkhand Armed Police constable who survived the attack and who is admitted in a hospital in Ranchi, said the Naxals started firing at their anti-landmine vehicle that had turned turtle immediately. "We retaliated. After our ammunition got exhausted, they took many of us into custody and shot them dead," he said.

The whereabouts of Zila Parishad chairperson Sushma Mehta and her bodyguard S Ram, who were also going to Bargar, remained unknown till late Sunday evening. Like mukhiya Minz, Mehta is a member of the CPI (ML), an ultra-Left party.