Bhagalpur, Jan. 4: Looking for an ideal spot to picnic this season? Welcome to picturesque and, for long, forbidden territory in Maoist areas, by invitation from the rebels.
The Maoists are actually inviting people to picnic in the lap of nature, surrounded by mountains, valleys and green cover in districts like Banka, Munger, Jamui and Lakhisarai. The turnout was actually high on new year's day, Friday.
Laljit Koda, spokesperson of the Eastern Bihar-Jharkhand regional zonal committee of the CPI(Maoists), said people were free to visit such spots without fear, as long as they did not create problems. "Liquor consumption by revellers had created problems earlier. We'd keep an eye out for such elements," he said over phone.
These places were avoided because of the Maoist fear, said Sanjay Gupta, a businessman from Banka. But this Christmas, he visited Sringirishi Dham inside the valley in Lakhisarai with his family. "We heard the rebels have announced no visitor would be harmed, so we dared visit," he said.
Sanjay Chatterjee, a medical sales representative in Bhagalpur, said: "We'd earlier planned to visit Massanjore dam in Dumka, Jharkhand, but will now visit Bhimbandh wild life sanctuary in Munger."
Sarfaraj Ahmad, a Bhagalpur-based travel agent, confirmed a sudden spurt in demand for vehicles to these places.
At the divisional headquarters of Munger, thousands queued up for hours to offer holy water from the river Ganga and pray at the famous Saktipeeth - Maa Chandika Ashtan temple. The sanctum sanctorum of the temple was decorated with flowers specially brought in from Calcutta, temple committee joint secretary Shiv Kumar Rungta said.
Bhim Bandh - in the middle of the dense Kharagpur forests where six policemen including then Munger SP K.C. Surendra Babu were killed on January 5, 2005 - was teeming with New Year revellers on Friday. Kharagapur police station house officer Rajesh Kumar Roy said: "The flow of revellers was massive compared to previous years.''
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHRIKRISHNA PRASAD IN MUNGER
