Hazaribagh, April 27: Over the years, Tamasheen has lost its sheen as a tourist hub.

Even though local villagers said the place — with three cascades, a hot-water spring and mysterious caves amid precarious rock structures — could have been developed as a proper tourist destination, Chatra district administration officials have a different logic.

“The place, along with the whole district, is known to be a Maoist stronghold. Even if we develop the place, tourists will be scared to visit it however picturesque the place be,” said a senior official of the district administration.

Villagers of tiny hamlets along the forested road from Ichak in Hazaribagh via Itkhori said had tourists been coming here like several years ago, unemployed youths of the area would get jobs. They also rebuffed the official claim saying that Maoists have never attacked tourists.

Laxman Mahto, in his 70s, said earlier tourists from Bengal and Orissa used to throng Tamasheen, about 165km from Ranchi. “As the place is known to be a Maoist stronghold, people are nowadays scared to come here,” he added.

Another problem about Tamasheen, villagers say, is the lack of hotels to stay for the night there.

“There is no way a tourist can spend a single night here and in case someone gets stranded, he is in for trouble. Few buses ply on this route and smaller vehicles, like trekkers and jeeps, also stay off roads after dark,” said Sankar, a local youth.

The government has no plan to develop the place surrounded by forests, hills, rivers and waterfall.

“Why should we develop such a place in the rebels’ den? Even when there is a Maoist attack in the district, police take several hours to reach there. Where is the security of common people then?” asked an official.

In the absence of a government initiative, the Maoists seem to reap the benefits of under-development by wooing more village youths to join their revolutionary fold. “Which way should we follow?” asks a youth aged above 20 years at Tamasheen.