Red umbrella clouds khaki

So deep-rooted is the distrust in khaki that the 10,000-odd villagers living here, belonging mostly to the Tharu community, have come up with their own criminal code. For instance, there8217;s a provision for 8216;8216;settling8217;8217; murders, and a rapist is made to pay Rs 1,200 to the victim8217;s family and cough up another Rs 500 for a village feast.

8216;8216;Hardly anyone comes here. The only people we see in days together is the sweeper. People here just want to avoid the police,8217;8217; says Head Constable Piyush Pandey, displaying the blank FIR register at Chandan Chowki police station, set up in the early 1980s.

Pandey adds that the Inspector in-charge 8216;8216;has not joined duty for almost four months now8217;8217;. 8216;8216;He must be lobbying for some other place. Who wants to be here anyway? There is no 8216;extra earning8217; as well,8217;8217; he says. The last case registered here was in 2000: Forest Officer A.V. Tiwari lodged a case of attempt to murder against some infiltrators.

Pandey outlines their 8216;8216;job8217;8217; for the day. 8216;8216;Two men guard a bank and two others escort buses in the evening. That8217;s all the work we have,8217;8217; he says.

The only thing that sometimes keeps them busy: issuing challans under the Motor Vehicles Act to buses plying without proper documents.

Explains H.R. Pathania, Commanding Officer, 25th Battalion SSB, which is posted along the border: 8216;8216;Maoists cross over to this side of the border and villagers of the Tharu community shelter them. Over the years, the Maoists8217; influence has rubbed on them as well. The villagers just refuse to talk to any person in uniform,8217;8217; he says.

Bhiru Bagh, whose son was murdered recently, tells us: 8216;8216;I have just three sons and not four.8217;8217; This has been his version to police too. Prodded further, Bagh admits: 8216;8216;My son was murdered by his friend, also from the Tharu community. But why tell the police? We will settle this on our own.8217;8217;

Village pradhan Bishnu Kanth says villagers of the community are forgiven for their crimes. 8216;8216;But any offender from other communities is killed. The police are not needed in any event,8217;8217; he says.

At Gorifonta, 50m away from Nepal, SI Manmohan Dyal Verma and his 40-odd men are as jobless as their Chandan Chowki counterparts. 8216;8216;We have even stopped doing night duty. What crime will be reported at night, if there8217;s nothing happening in the morning,8217;8217; he says.