No change a day after ‘liberation’

The only perceptible change was that the Lalgarh police station personnel,after a long time,could sleep last night.

They probably felt safe for the first time since November 2008,when a mine blast on Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s convoy and the resultant police high-handedness snowballed into a mass agitation,which later took the Maoist colour.

The scene at the Lalgarh police station,which served as the base camp and epicentre for the Centre-state joint operation against Maoists,looked no different from it was four days ago,before the operation started.

It was,however,teeming with Central forces. The main gate of the police station was locked throughout the day,opening only when vehicles ferrying the state or Central police personnel passed.

“We are trying our best to gain peoples’ confidence. But that will take time. Our primary task now is to take action against the Maoists,” said Praveen Kumar,DIG Midnapur Range.

“Not a single complaint has been lodged so far. It has been months since someone came and lodged a complaint. We still cannot allow everyone in. Please,we cannot allow you to come in. Nobody is allowed in,” said a sub-inspector from inside when this correspondent knocked on the locked gate.

The sentry was terse,“Please do not stand near the gate. No one is allowed to do that.”

“We are following orders. I’m just the officer-in-charge and nothing is in my hands. We could not sleep at night out of fear and have to stay alert,” said Gourishankar Kanjilal,OC of the Lalgarh police station.

Apart from the OC,there are four sub-inspectors,seven assistant sub-inspectors and 17 constables in the police station. Now,however,their job is to escort Central and state forces engaged in the operation.

“It has been over a year since we gave up routine policing. No going on rounds in the areas. The forces are here,but there is no change,except for the fact that now we can sleep at night,” said a sub-inspector on the condition of anonymity.

Before the operation started,police personnel said they could not venture out of the station or visit the local markets even during the day. The situation was no different on Sunday.

“It was too risky to go out. The local shop owners did not cooperate with us. Sometimes the electricity lines would be snapped,or the phone lines would stop working. Food and daily items were bought from Midnapur town,45 kilometres away under heavy security. Little has changed now,though we claim to have liberated our police station,” said another sub-inspector.

No further movement of the joint forces,however,from any of their base camps was reported on fourth day of the operation.

Seven CRPF jawans fell sick due to the heat wave. They were first treated in Lalgarh and then shifted to the Army hospital in Kalaikonda. The injured were airlifted from Lalgarh in an Army helicopter and sent to the Kalaikonda Air base.

CRPF Commandant Deepak Tushar Banerjee said one of their jawans was taken to Midnapore hospital after he fell ill in the heat. He also admitted that no movement of forces had taken place on Sunday.

“There was no major movement today. We are consolidating our position and tactical advantage. Three suspected Maoists were arrested from Goaltore area today,” said Praveen Kumar,DIG Midnapore range,who supervised the operations.

Fresh trouble erupted in Belpahari area,where local tribals engaged in a minor clash with the CRPF personnel. According to the locals,CRPF personnel during the raid on Saturday urinated in local ponds used for drinking water. Today,the locals protested and the incident got out of hand. One CRPF jawan received injuries after being hit by an axe by one of the locals. The CRPF then resorted to baton-charging.

Sources in the administration also said that some personnel have been rushed to Bankura border,near Sarenga. The forces,however,moved only for about 1 km.

Minor resistance was also reported from Chakadoba area,where locals protested against the presence of Central forces. The CRPF has also been positioned along the Pirakata and Jhitka jungles leading to the Lalgarh police station.