“We tap all the calls on Kishenji’s cellphone. That was how we got to know about the calls from two rangers in the Lalgarh-Jhargram belt. They spoke for 5 to 6 minutes,” said a senior police officer.

The rangers called up Kishenji hours after the Maoist-backed Sidhu-Kanhu Gana Militia ransacked the Parihati range office in Jhargram and assaulted ranger Pratap Acharya.

Acharya had earlier refused to hand over the government funds he had in the office to the Maoists. Irked by this, the Maoists beat him up with wooden planks. At present, he is in a critical condition.

Asked about the issue, Atanu Raha, principal chief conservator of forests, said: “We inquired into the matter. As of now we have not got the names of the rangers. Around 5-6 cases have been reported to me in which the Maoists after ransacking the range offices stole mobile phones of our rangers. There are possibilities that the Maoists are using these cellphones to mislead the police and the intelligence agencies.”

In the last couple of weeks, the Maoists and members of the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities have torched five forest offices in Sankhahar, Binpur, Goaltore, Jhitka and Parihati.