The closed entrance of the agriculture office and (below) the SDO’s office at Haveli Kharagpur attacked by the Maoists. Pictures by Amit Kumar

Haveli Kharagpur (Munger), Jan. 12: Work in the district collectorate in the Maoist-hit Munger has been suffering badly because of the terror spread by Maoists.

Even recent instructions given by principal secretary (personnel) Dipak Kumar to district magistrates have failed to change the work culture.

Such is the fear that panic-stricken officials in Haveli Kharagpur sub-division of Munger district have started functioning from their official residences instead of going to office.

Moreover, the main entrances of the offices of the sub-divisional officer (SDO) and the block development officer (BDO) were locked up because of Red terror and the officials rarely attend office, inconveniencing villagers.

Binod Ravidas, a resident of Kharagpur, is yet to get his caste certificate in spite of making several rounds of both the SDO and BDO offices for the past three months.

“In the block office, the clerks demanded a bribe. I could not complain to the higher officials, as they were absent from their offices,” Ravidas said. Kisun Kumar alleged the local police had implicated him in a case but he did not approach the sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) because the officer did not come to office.

“I tried to meet the officer several times at his residence but the security guards did not allow me to,” he alleged. Many others narrated similar experiences.

“For security reasons, the main gates remain locked. In 2008, then Munger magistrate Lokesh Kumar Singh had ordered the main gates of the block office be kept locked in this rebel-hit area,” said Jagdish Choudhary, the head clerk of Haveli Kharagpur block office. He said people entered the premises through a side door. “That is why the Anchal guards’ barrack is located beside the side entrance,” he said. Sources said the rebels raided the block office around seven years ago and destroyed important documents there. BDO Binod Kumar Rajak was not present for comment.

Haveli Kharagpur block JD (U) president Rajendra Mandal, however, admitted facing extreme difficulty because of the locked gate. “Nitish government’s susashan is under Maoist threat,” he said.

The Haveli Kharagpur SDO’s office on the campus of the agriculture farmhouse, located around 2km from the main market area, wore a deserted look. Haveli Kharagpur, the erstwhile block of Munger was upgraded into a sub-division by then Lalu Prasad government on January 11, 1992. “Lalu’s government upgraded the block to sub-division to help the local people who had to visit Munger 43km away on work but the Maoists have turned the situation down,” said Manoj Kumar Singh, a resident.

“Look how the Maoists destroyed the sub-divisional office building in July 2008. People do not go to their offices even during daytime,” said Naresh Prasad Tanti, a lawyer.

Before 2008, Maoists demolished the combined CDPO’s office, auditorium, SDO’s office building along with a part of the SDPO’s office with powerful bombs. The Maoists even damaged the newly constructed SDO office where the Battalion 131 of CRPF has shifted its camp. The makeshift SDO’s office was shifted to the warehouse of the agriculture farm thereafter. “The SDO comes here infrequently only on important official work, but does most of the work from his official residence,” said an employee, on the condition of anonymity. “Yes, we always live in panic, the Maoists can do anything any time,” said another office staffer, on the condition of anonymity.

Munger DM Prem Singh Meena was not available for his comment, while at the official residence of Haveli Kharagpur SDO Salim Aktar, the security guards wanted this correspondent to show his identity card. “Show your identity card, you may be a Maoist,” they said. High-level CRPF sources said the previous incidents took place as the SDO’s office was located at an abandoned place near Fulwarikoti forest at the foothills of the Kharagpur range and beside river Mani, a Maoist-hit area.

“The SDO’s office would soon started functioning in the new building and that is why our camp has been shifted there,” a CRPF official said, on the condition of anonymity. He also said the CRPF camp at Kajra High school in neighbouring Lakhisarai district was also shifted to the newly constructed office of Bannubagicha BDO in the district.

Haveli Kharagpur SDPO A.K. Chandra, however, said though the SDO office was located on the agriculture department farmhouse campus, the office was shifted to his official residence premises in the market area long ago. “It was for the security reasons. But I daily meet aggrieved people at my house who come to visit here for their work,” he claimed.

A visit to Haveli Kharagpur gave the testimony to how the people still suffer from Maoist fear “We have to obey such security arrangements. The Nitish government’s tall claims are not applicable here,” a villager said.