A JAP jawan patrols a marketplace in Bokaro on Thursday. Picture by Pankaj Singh

Bokaro, Oct. 15: Dazzling Chinese bulbs, firecrackers and designer idols have flooded the market. So have the men in uniform.

Bokaro is celebrating Diwali no doubt, but under the shadow of the gun. With the Maoist threat looming large, the new superintendent of police (SP), Saket Singh, has beefed up security across the district to ensure that the festival passes off without any untoward incident.

Four battalions of personnel, including four dozen women personnel armed with sophisticated guns, are keeping a watch on jewellery shops, markets and religious places in Bokaro and Chas — the two main commercial centres of the district.

Paramilitary forces, including the Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force and Jharkhand Armed Police, have been put on alert at Naxalite strongholds such as Gomia, Nawadih, Petarwar and Kasmar in Bermo sub-division.

More than 100 pandals will be set up in the district, some of them in the rebel zones.

Talking to The Telegraph, SP Singh said special arrangements had been made in view of the swelling festival crowd and the increase in the number of Naxalite attacks in the past few years.

“Market places are packed with revellers and Maoists may take advantage of the situation to cause bloodshed. We don’t want to take chances and have deputed sufficient number of security personnel, including policemen in plainclothes, to thwart any attack. Our men are also on vigil in other areas,” Singh added.

The tight security, however, has done little to dampen the spirits of Diwali shoppers. “Seeing so many policemen in the market made me feel secure,” said Amita Verma, a lecturer.

Similarly, policemen or not, shopkeepers dealing in Diwali paraphernalia are doing brisk business. Chinese lamps in various shapes and colours and Chinese models of Indian deities are fast disappearing from shelves in Bokaro, Chas and Bermo.

With prices of oilseeds, mustard and castor seeds going up, people are preferring Chinese bulbs — priced at an affordable Rs 25 to Rs 200 — to diyas. “Lots of people are buying these bulbs as they are cheap and at the same time, give your home a chic look. Besides, low-priced Hindu idols made in China are selling well,” wholesaler Binod Kumar Gupta of Chas said.