Deputy chief minister Tejaswi, who is also road construction minister, on Wednesday met agencies executing road and bridge projects in the state and sought to allay their law and order fears.

He asked them to call him up at the slightest hint of extortion threat and declared he would himself camp at the project construction site if required.

Two engineers were recently murdered in Darbhanga after the construction firm they worked for, BSC-C&C (JV), refused to pay up to a gang.

The firm attended Wednesday's meeting, perhaps the first of its kind to be convened by a road construction minister. There were also heads of 14 other agencies, each handling projects worth over Rs 100 crore.

"I have instructed them not to work under any fear and to complete projects on time," said Tejaswi.

"The government is ready to provide all possible support and security personnel have already been deployed at all construction sites where agencies received extortion calls."

After the Darbhanga incident, many agencies executing projects in the state had expressed concern over extortion calls.

Among them was Navayuga Engineering Company Limited, which is handling chief minister Nitish Kumar's ambitious Ganga Driveway project. Now, police have been deployed at the site. SP Singla Construction Pvt Ltd, which is executing the Ara-Chhapra bridge over the Ganga, received extortion threats from Maoists.

Flanked by road construction department principal secretary Sudhir Kumar and Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Ltd chairman Vinay Kumar, Tejaswi shared his cellphone number and asked executing agencies to send him messages or call up the principal secretary.

"The Darbhanga incident was really unfortunate, but now all executing agencies are satisfied and I have asked them to contact me even after minor incidents. Action would be taken immediately,"

Tejaswi said. "Mobile patrolling would be provided round the clock. All district magistrates and superintendents of police have been instructed to deploy force wherever there is a threat or extortion call."

In the same breath, he said strong action would be taken against construction companies that try to justify project delay citing fake threats.

The deputy chief minister took on the Opposition over the jungle raj allegations.

"There are some people in Bihar who are indulging in negative politics at a time when the government is committed to establishing the rule of law. I will request them not to defame Bihar by indulging in negative politics," Tejaswi said. "Under Nitishji's leadership, we are busy doing constructive politics."

He said he would begin divisional inspection from the last week of January, and cover four divisions a month.

Asked about assurances made by Tejaswi, the vice president of BSC-C&C (JV), Ashok Kumar, said: "It was a fruitful meeting where the minister promised all possible support. After the murder of our two engineers, many employees had quit, hampering work, but now everything is fine. We have been provided three-layer security at the construction site. We are happy with today's meeting."

The company is also handling the 120km Darbhanga-Samastipur-Rasiyari road project, scheduled for completion in January 2018.