A cop outside Simlapal police station. (Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya)

Simlapal (Bankura), Feb. 17: Thirteen .303 rifles to secure 344sqkm; 23 policemen in two jeeps to protect 1.5 lakh people; 23 policemen above 45 years of age to combat guerrillas in their 20s.

This is the sorry story of a police station in the heart of Maoist territory and a frightening reflection of state police’s preparedness to battle Maoists.

The morale of the policemen here, barely 30km from Shilda, is such that they call themselves “sitting ducks”.

“By the time we fire three rounds, the Maoists would fire 30,” said a constable. “They will pump bullets into us while we try to reload our old guns.”

There are four self-loading rifles — three are used for patrolling while the fourth is with the sentry behind a bunker at the gate.

“The SLRs are not used to give chase to the Maoists, but for self-defence,” a policeman said.

The single-storey police station and the small adjoining barracks are located along the Bankura-West Midnapore border, an area the police’s own intelligence branch has identified as a “free zone” for the outlawed outfit.

“The Maoists use the road between Simlapal and Shilda to reach Belpahari, Jhargram and even Jharkhand from Bankura,” said a sub-inspector. “Even if we have a specific tip-off about their movement, do you expect us to accost them with our aged constables and decades-old rifles?”

Although there is a concrete boundary wall around the police station and the barracks, there are no watchtowers, essential in an area of conflict. Even if there were watchtowers, the police here doubt whether they would be manned round the clock, given the limited manpower.

Officer-in-charge Mainak Debnath admitted that running his station had its problems. “We have to fulfil all our duties with limited resources,” Debnath said, his 9mm pistol tucked into his waist.

Most personnel here have almost turned cynical, believing that the government will do nothing unless there is a bloodbath.

“Look at the case of Sankrail police station. There has been a change there both in terms of manpower and firepower only after the Maoist killings there. I’m sure that when the government re-establishes the EFR’s Shilda camp, it will be better equipped and more secure,” a policeman said. “We live at the Maoists’ mercy,” he had no qualms in admitting.