Naxalite pamphlets and books lie unguarded on the road outside Agamkuan police station in Patna. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, March 9: People may land in deep trouble for possessing Naxalite literature. But a large number of such Maoist books and pamphlets, seized from the heart of the state capital a few years ago, have been lying scattered on the road adjacent to the Agamkuan police station.

The Special Task Force (STF) and the district police had seized a truckload of Naxalite literature from Kumhrar area in November-December 2007 during an operation launched against the rebels. “STF personnel had conducted the raid in Bhagwat Nagar locality (behind Kumhrar) following a tip-off by the then inspector-general of police (operations) S.K. Bhardwaj,” recalled Suresh Prasad Choudhary, who was then posted as deputy superintendent of police, Patna City.

Choudhary, who is now posted as superintendent of police (rail) in Patna, told The Telegraph that the Maoists had taken a private house on rent to run their office. “We were surprised to see the large quantity of Naxalite literature stored in the room. It was, in fact, a distribution centre of books and magazines of the banned outfit,” he added.

A visit to the Agamkuan police station on Wednesday revealed how court exhibits (all articles seized by the police are treated as court exhibits) are kept in the police stations in Patna. Books and magazines like Lal Chingari, a collection of Mao Tse Tung, party programmes and documents related to different congress of the central committee were found scattered all across the campus.

A constable deputed at the police station said it was very difficult for them to keep such documents intact. “We cannot keep these documents in the malkhana of the police station for lack of space,” he said. He, however, refuted the charge of many magazines and books stolen by rag pickers.

Local residents, however, claimed that the rag pickers had taken away a major chunk of the seized documents lying in the open. “The policemen posted at the police station are least bothered about the upkeep of the seized documents, which are provocative in nature,” a local resident said.

When the matter was brought to the notice of deputy superintendent of police (Patna City) Sushil Kumar, he said he would personally look it. “We are only the custodians of the court exhibits. Such lapses will not be tolerated,” he said.

Sources said that about 1.5 quintals of explosives was also seized from Agamkuan police station area. In 2006, three women and 11 male Maoists were arrested from their hideouts under the same police station.

The STF had arrested Bhaskar Ji, the self-proclaimed north Bihar western zone secretary from Agamkuan area on December 2, 2007. His associate, identified as Dhananjay, was arrested on November 22 from the same police station area.