Cooch Behar, March 28: Hunters turned hunted after the intelligence network of the Border Security Force got wind of the plans of a five-man KLO team to abduct traders for ransom from here and adjacent Jalpaiguri.

The pursuers also stumbled upon the rebels’ intention of carrying out a strike in Mainaguri town. Hot on their heels since March 23, the intelligence officials would have claimed their prize had the rebels not crossed over to Jalpaiguri to shake them off their tail.

The BSF personnel were forced to call off the pursuit as they did not have any jurisdiction to engage the militants in an encounter beyond Cooch Behar.

The border force has sent a detailed report of the episode to its Delhi headquarters.

“Our intelligence officers had inputs of the militants’ plans to abduct a trader from Changrabandha, near the Cooch Behar-Jalpaiguri border. We alerted their target and stepped up vigil,” said Vimal Mohan, the deputy inspector-general of the BSF’s Cooch Behar sector.

Mohan said the five militants entered Changrabandha from the Dalgaon area in motorcycles and bicycles. They split and entered Mathabhanga and lay low in the villages dotting the area.

“We have information that the militants left their hideout in Mathabhanga on March 23 to execute the abduction plan. When they realised that their cover was blown, they aborted the plan and went underground at Lalangimati. Our men began an intensive operation to flush them out,” Mohan said.

Flushed out on March 25, the rebels managed to give the BSF the slip because suspected KLO linkmen among village residents created a diversion.“We have information that they used thickly forested paths to flee towards Jalpaiguri. They entered Dalgaon in the adjoining district the next day,” Mohan said.