TERROR AT DOORSTEP: Residents of Belpahari peep out of their hut on which tribals have pasted a list of demands and (bottom) murdered ration dealer Ashok Halder. Picture by Amit Datta

Belpahari, Nov. 16: Armies of tribals carrying bows and arrows are stalking Jhargram, Lalgarh and Belpahari, leaving police quaking in their boots.

The West Midnapore administration has decided to “wait and watch” as thousands of men and women, armed with bows, arrows, spears and axes, fanned across the Jhargram sub-division.

The villagers have no assurance of police protection, not at night at least. Officers admitted they were “uncomfortable” about patrolling the Maoist-hit belt, where tribals have been protesting police raids and detentions following the November 2 Salboni blast.

“Policer baaper shahosh nei shondher pore oi shob elakaye dhoke. Amadero jibon haranor bhoy achhe (Even the greatest police force in the world will not dare enter these areas after sundown. We, too, are scared of death,” said an officer of Belpahari police station.

The police did not go to Tongbheda village tonight to collect the body of ration dealer Ashok Halder, who was killed by suspected Maoists last evening. They tiptoed in around 5am today and took away the corpse.

“We don’t want a repeat of Nandigram and so we have adopted a wait-and-watch policy as suggested by our superiors,” the officer said.

Quoting a report by the district intelligence branch, the officer claimed that Maoists were instigating the tribals.

No senior police official has visited Belpahari after Halder’s murder. His relatives lodged an FIR today but did not name any suspect.

“I saw them when they came and called my brother yesterday afternoon. But I could not identify them,” said Murali, Halder’s brother who was the first to see him dead with his head smashed.

“I brought the body home and informed the police. But no one came from the police station last night,” he added.

The tribal agitation has also left local CPM leaders shaken. Hareram Singh, secretary of the party’s local committee, has stopped going home to Simulpal, around 12km away.

“I am spending sleepless nights at the party office near Belpahari police station with two constables armed with semi-automatic weapons,” the 58-year-old said.

On Thursday, Singh stayed the night at the police station. “The police came to me and said there was a threat from Maoists and suggested that I spend the night at the police station,” he said.

Block development officer Bhaskar Pal admitted that development work had come to a standstill in the trouble-torn area over the past few days.

“The areas have become inaccessible. Tribals are demonstrating in and around Belpahari and we cannot move because of roadblocks,” Pal said.

“They have tortured us several times. It is our turn now to teach them a lesson,” said Sukhram Murmu, a resident of Chakadoba village.

A group of nearly 1,000 marched along the 12km stretch between Bhulabheda and Chakadoba, which is blocked with trees, today. The green blockade is back in the adjoining Dahijuri More, too.

A team of 50 tribals took out a motorcycle procession in Jhargram town this afternoon and shouted slogans saying their agitation would continue till their demands were met.

The town is now approachable by only one metalled road through Midnapore town via Dherua. The three other approaches — from National Highway 6, the Jhargram- Bandwan Road and the route via Gidhni — have been blocked with trees for over a week.