Police officers at the meet. Picture by Puja

Muzaffarpur, Sept. 19: The zonal police have chalked out a Road opening party (Rop) plan to be introduced in Maoist-affected pockets of north Bihar.

Under the Rop plan, police teams would patrol Maoist-hit areas in Minapur, Paroo, Sahebganj, Runnisaidpur, Belsand, Sheohar, Sitamarhi and Pupri Assembly constituencies of Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi and Sheohar districts falling under the Tirhut division.

The decision to form Rop was taken after the intelligence wing of the state special branch apprehended Maoist designs to hamper election process in north Bihar constituencies.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) had instructed district election officers (DEO) and superintendents of police (SP) of the said districts to ensure safe passage of polling personnel to the booths in Maoist-hit areas.

Rop is designed to guard and guide polling parties in vulnerable areas of the districts to the polling booths.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP), Muzaffarpur, Sunil Kumar told The Telegraph: “Rop personnel will patrol all roads leading to polling booths. They will be equipped with high-frequency wireless and sophisticated communication devices. They will also be provided anti-landmine and bulletproof vehicles.”

The Rop personnel will continue to keep vigil on the roads, after sending the polling parties to their destination, to thwart Maoist from setting up landmines on the return trip.

Tirhut divisional commissioner S.M. Raju said he has reviewed the preparations for elections with the DEOs and SPs and pointed out measures to ensure safe polling in Maoist-affected regions.

For the first time, the Election Commission has agreed to wrap up the polling process by 3pm in Maoist-hit areas.

Muzaffarpur DEO-cum-district magistrate Anand Kishore said: “I had put forward the proposal of cutting down the hours of polling in the Maoist-affected constituencies. In the last Lok Sabha elections, five policemen and a magistrate had been killed in a landmine explosion in Chaturpatti village of Paroo constituency.”

ECI has accepted the proposal and has ordered the DEOs to conduct the polling process between 7am and 3pm in Minapur, Sahebganj and Paroo Assembly constituencies in Muzaffarpur district.

This has given a respite to the police officials deputed in the region as the Maoists generally plan their attacks in the evenings when it is dark.

Zonal inspector-general of police (Muzaffarpur zone) Gupteshwar Pandey held detailed discussions with SPs of Maoist-hit districts — Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, East Champaran, West Champaran, Sitamarhi, Sheohar and Saran — on the Rop formation to deal with the Maoist threat during the polls.

ECI has also directed the DEOs and SPs to ensure tight arrangements during polls in the Maoist-affected districts. The state police headquarters have already provided bulletproof vehicles to Minapur police station to conduct checks on the polling booths, ahead of the election. The intelligence wing personnel of the state special branch has been instructed to mingle with the rural people, in plainclothes, to gather information on motives of the Maoists and subsequently plan for preventive steps.