Patna, Aug. 18: Railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav’s constituency, Chhapra, is in the news again with chief minister Rabri Devi promising an engineering college in the town and the local police coming down hard on criminals in the district.

The latest efforts are being seen as an attempt by the railway minister to give the constituency its rightful dues. Laloo Prasad had earlier promised a railway wheel manufacturing plant at Chhapra.

Rabri Devi’s promise, made during her Independence Day speech, has been welcomed because the region does not have an engineering or medical college. The only engineering college of north Bihar is in Muzaffarpur.

RJD sources said the announcement of sops for his home turf is a fall-out of Laloo Prasad’s decision to vacate the Madhepura seat and retain Chhapra, where he trounced the BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

“There are enough reasons to believe that the Saran belt of north Bihar has been getting a special treatment after Laloo Prasad joined the Union government. There are some murmurs in the party over this as well. But every politician tries to nurture his constituency,” they added.

Sources said the police crackdown in Chhapra is also part of a “cleansing operation” because the crime graph in the railway minister’s home constituency has been rising. The district police had yesterday shot five dreaded criminals at Majhauna near Chhapra.

Police said the criminals had opened fire on a patrol squad and were killed on the spot in the exchange of fire that ensued. They claimed to have recovered four rifles, a pistol and ammunition from the spot.

Although superintendent of police Ganesh Prasad described the encounter as a “routine exercise” conducted on the basis of information they received, sources claimed that they have been clearly instructed to improve the law and order situation in the district.

A major demand of the electorate in Chhapra had been to improve the law and order situation in the area. This was compounded by incidents of large-scale violence during the election.

“The aim is to instil a sense of confidence in the people, especially after Laloo Prasad was elected from the place. The electorate of Chhapra has a history of punishing those who go back on their promises. So it is good that Laloo Prasad has begun the work early,” sources said.

The announcement of the wheel factory — which Laloo Prasad had promised would generate a large number of jobs for the local people — had gone down well with the electorate.

Although the project is in its preliminary stage, the promise has been well received because Chhapra was handpicked for the mega project.