'Koteshwar Rao had a bullet injury in leg'

Top Maoist leader Koteshwar Rao had suffered a bullet injury in his left leg but is now out of danger, a person claiming to be have treated him said.

Jawaharlal Mahato, detained by police three days ago from Lalgarh and arrested on Thursday, claimed he was a doctor and Koteshwar Rao was brought to him by the Maoists late last month, police sources said.

Koteshwar Rao had a bullet injury in the cuff muscle of his left leg, but as the bullet pierced through his leg, there was no internal swelling or bone fracture, Mahato claimed during interrogation.

He said he dressed the wounds and gave medicines to Koteshwar Rao and the absconding leader was now safe and out of danger.

When asked about the investigation, West Midnapore Superintendent of police Manoj Kumar Verma declined to divulge details.

"We have arrested Jawaharlal Mahato, who claims himself to be a doctor, from Lalgarh police station area. He is actually a class VIII pass out and treats local patients," he said.

Verma said apart from Mahato, there are 15 more doctors, some even from Kolkata, who are under the scanner of police and intelligence agencies.

Police sources said some doctors have been picked up by Maoists at gunpoint to treat the injured.

Most of them were Maoist sympathisers and treated the injured Naxal men only out of fear, the sources said.

There was no official confirmation on whether Koteshwar Rao was hurt in the March 24 gunfight between joint forces and Maoists at Hatiloth forest in West Midnapore district of West Bengal.

A fax sent by the Maoists to the media two days ago had claimed that none of its top leaders had been injured in the March 24 gunfight.