• To visit district headquarters at Kanker, about 110 km away, police personnel have to board a private jeep which ferries villagers between Koylibeda and Antahgarh. “This is a dangerous prospect each time as there is always a chance that Naxalites have been informed about our movement and they can abduct or kill the policemen,” Kerketta says. Two personnel Shiv Charan Markam and Ajanya Ram Nateri, constables at Koylibeda, were kidnapped by Naxals on September 10 last year.

• Says Soni: “The nearest security force post, from where a rescue party can be sent, is 30 km away at Antahgarh. In the case of an attack, we are left with just one choice — to keep fighting and hold the post as we can’t expect any help to reach us within six hours.”

• Another dilemma policemen face is on a personal front. “I could not get leave to attend my brother’s wedding and was unable to convince my wife why I could not come home. It becomes frustrating when many of us cannot talk to our families for days to tell them we are alive,” says a constable who did not wish to be named. Next to the SHO’s room is the post’s “communication hub”: a wireless operator and one BSNL landline, installed in Kerketta’s room. Mobile coverage is not available in Koylibeda.

• The remote location means the police station doesn’t receive rations and other provisions meant for its personnel on a regular basis. “We have to make purchases out of our pockets if we want to keep the kitchen fire going in the official mess,” says Kerketta.

... contd.