Bodies lie strewn on the road along with Maoist posters branding the murdered men police informers. Picture by Samir Mondal

Shilda, May 14: When Suman Ahir learnt that the men he saw through his bedside window, marching into their village, were not policemen he exclaimed in disbelief.

“How is that possible?” he asked. “Those people were wearing the same dress that the joint forces personnel don during their patrols.”

Told that the villagers had been conned into believing the Maoists were the police, the 30-year-old farmhand’s incredulity turned into anger.

“What fools we have been. All along we thought it was a force from Binpur police station,” said the resident of Chandabila village, where three CPM supporters and a party activist walked into a guerrilla trap thinking they were about to help a police team in an assignment.

It is not unusual for forces dressed in camouflage gear to pass through Chandabila since a CRPF camp was set up only 3km away in the wake of the Maoists’ Shilda massacre in February.

“I heard the sound of marching feet, opened my door a little and saw a group of policemen standing in front of Ashok Ahir’s house. It is not unusual for the joint forces to pass through the village at night,” said Rampada Goala, a labourer in his 40s. “We felt like idiots this morning when we heard that four villagers had been shot dead by the gang feigning to be our protectors.”

CRPF officers in the Maoist belt admitted it was difficult to tell between real and fake policemen. One officer suggested a way, however impossible. “The guerrillas usually carry old and traditional rifles like the .303, but the forces here only carry automatic weapons such as the Insas and AK-47 rifles.”

At Chandabila, the villagers said they could have at least alerted the nearby CRPF camp had they realised that it was a Maoist raid.

“We could have also alerted CPM leaders in Jhargram and Midnapore towns and they would surely have tried to do something,” said Sheikh Khalek, 35, another resident of the village.

Police officers said the security forces — be it the police or the paramilitary — in the region use the camouflage gear because it helps them “melt in the jungles”.

“If the forces take cover behind thick foliage, bushes or trees during an encounter, the colour combination of the dress is such that they will not be visible from a distance. We use this dress in operation areas like Jungle Mahal,” said an officer.

There is no law against the sale or use of the camouflage fabric by civilians. “These dresses are readily available in the markets in the region and anyone can buy and use them,” said West Midnapore superintendent of police Manoj Verma.

In Midnapore town, a trousers-shirt set made of the camouflage material is available at prices ranging between Rs 250 and Rs 750.

“During raids on Maoist hideouts, we have recovered such camouflage gear on several occasions,” said Verma.