To utter surprise of the police officials, a 19-year-old youth who was a suspect CPI Maoist rebel, committed suicide at the Ghatshila police station lock-up in wee hours of Wednesday.

The deceased was identified as Ramesh Mahali alias Bhuchan, a resident of Shyamsundarpur in Ghatshila sub-division of East Singhbhum.

According to information, Bhuchan was one of the three accused who had killed Venket Reddy (40), site in-charge of a construction company, at Shyamsundarpur jungle after kidnapping him from Kharkasoli, a canal construction site along Subernarekha river in Shyamsundarpur on December 8.

In this connection, the police had already arrested Jairam Munda, a close associate of dreaded rebel Fogra Munda and sent him to jail earlier. Accused Fogra and Bhuchan were still absconding. Bhuchan was arrested in Shyamsundarpur yesterday and had been shifted to Ghatshila police station for being forwarded to the Ghatshila Sub-jail after his production in a judicial magistrate court in Ghatshila today, but he committed suicide in the lock-up today.

“ It is really a sohcking incident. Bhuchan was provided a blanket in view of winter.  But instead of using the blanket, he tore it apart and used for hanging himself from an iron angle inside the lock-up.

In the morning at about 6.30 am, the police discovered about the incident and later shifted the body to the MGM Medical College mortuary for post-mortem,” noted an official.

Meanwhile, following orders by the East Singhbhum deputy commissioner, Amitabh Kaushal, the post-mortem of Bhuchan’s body is being carried out under a three-member medical board constituted by an executive magistrate.

Fogra along with Bhuchan and Jairam had demanded Reddy `25 lakh as levy for carrying out the canal construction work there and as the latter declined to oblige the trio, they had on December 8 morning abducted from the construction site in Kharkasoli and blugeoned to death at a nearby jungle.

Officer-in-charge, Shyamsundarpur, Mukesh Chowdhury said they were investigating as to what led to the suicide. The trio, including Fogra, attached to Kanhu Munda squad of CPI-Moaist, and Bhuchan were booked under Sections 302 for murder, 364 for abduction and 34 of the Indian Penal Code. 

Birsingh Munda, officer-in-charge, Ghatshila police station, however refused to say anything about the custodial death of Bhuchan, claiming he was out of the police station at the time he was brought to his police station.