Jamui: Brothers Madan Koda and Pramod Koda were murdered, allegedly by Maoists, at an evacuee camp on Holi, once again revealing the insecurity and fear villagers live under in the inaccessible regions of the district.
The brothers were staying at an evacuees' camp on government primary school campus at Pancheswari under Barhet police station in Jamui. They, along with other villagers, had fled from Kumartari village last year after CRPF and police personnel killed two Maoists on June 18. The other villagers said the murder on Friday night was a reminder from the Maoists that they are not safe anywhere.
"Topographically very inaccessible, Kumartari was converted into a safe bastion of the rebels but since the security forces breached the area and killed two rebels, the Maoists suspect the villagers of being police informers. And the attack was an act of revenge," said a Kumartari resident at the camp.
The tight spot the Kumartari villagers find themselves in is not unique to them. Villagers across Jamui are compelled to leave their homes to escape the wrath of the Maoists.
Nearly 25 families from Janakpura in Khaira block fled to Khalari in December 2013 after Maoists raped a woman and threatened the people. Then Jamui district magistrate Shashi Kant Tiwari tried his best to bring the villagers back home but they refused to and still live at the Khalari middle school.
Ropabel is otherwise a nondescript sleepy village on the Gahari-Nawada main road. Krishna Modi, 59, said: "How many names should I count for those who have migrated from this village because of the rebels? I narrowly escaped six years ago when armed Maoists tried to kidnap me.
"At least 60 families have been forced to leave. One of them was a company commandant at the Panchmarhi army cantonment in Madhya Pradesh and another one was a deputy superintendent of police in the Ranchi special task force but still the family had to flee," Modi recalling, underscoring how no one is free.
"Last year we allowed some 15 families to stay in Banghar in the Bhimbandh forest covers at Haveli Kharagpur in Munger," said Haveli Kharagpur sub-divisional officer Sanjeev Kumar.
"It's indeed impossible for the police to protect the villagers. Action can be taken in cases of clear threat. We are trying to shift villagers of Kumartari for their safety and security," said Sushil M. Singh Khopde, inspector-general of police, Bhagalpur. "The only option for the police to breach the inaccessible topography is to intensify raids and search operations. We have already initiated the process to flush out the Maoists."
