Residents of Bharandua in Rohtas district are happy that the state government has initiated steps to fulfil their demands to honour the memory of their local hero Krishna Kumar Pandey, one of the 25 CPRF personnel killed in the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on April 24.

Rohtas district magistrate (DM) Animesh Kumar Parashar on Monday called a residents' delegation and family members of the slain jawan to his official residence and discussed their demands. The residents want a memorial, a big entrance gate to the village, a school, a library and a community hall - all to be named after KK, as Pandey was called by friends and family.

Last week the residents of Bharandua, around 25km west of district headquarters town Sasaram and around 188km south-west of Patna, had served a 72-hour ultimatum to the district administration and threatened that they would launch an agitation if their demands were not agreed to.

Residents had also sent a memorandum to the DM's office.

Sasaram sub-divisional officer (SDO) Amrendra Kumar and inspector of CRPF's Bandalgarh base camp Abhishek Kumar were also present during the 45-minute meeting presided over by DM Parashar on Monday.

Within 24 hours of the meeting, a senior official of the district administration visited the spot on Tuesday and enquired about the land on which the memorial for KK would be set up. The officer also measured the distance between the main road and the ancestral house of KK, to construct a link road.

The SDO asked Chenari block development Rajesh Kumar to submit a proposal for acquisition of land at the earliest.

KK's brother Amarjeet Pandey, who attended the meeting at the DM's residence, said on Tuesday that the DM has asked the SDO concerned to submit a proposal to his office in a week, and promised to look into the other demands of the residents.

"The DM was very cooperative and he showed keen interest to fulfil the demands," said Amarjeet, a BSF jawan. "He wants that the proposals should be completed within a timeframe. A delegation of residents comprising Niranjan Pandey, Arvind Pandey, Ramesh Tiwary and Ram Ekbal had called on the DM."

On Sunday, a CRPF team headed by inspector Abhishek had visited Bharandua and told residents that the paramilitary force would set up a modern library at the village.

Abhishek had requested Vivekanand Sah, acting principal of the Ram Dulari Ganga Inter College in Bharandua, to provide rooms to start the library on the institute's premises on a temporary basis.

"I am ready to provide rooms for the library," the principal said on Tuesday.