As the Lalgarh operations progressed without any resistance on Wednesday, the police were busy visiting villages and communicating with the masses.

The state-Central security force marched on to Dharampur where CPM zonal secretary Anuj Pandey’s house had been ransacked recently.

Deputy Inspector General of Midnapore Range Praveen Kumar, meanwhile, talked to the locals and listened to their grievances. “Our operations will go on. But what is important is that we must connect with the people. We must make them understand that police are not the oppressors. We are here working against the Maoists, not the people,” he said.

Kumar led the team from Lalgarh to Dharampur whereas Manoj Verma, Superintendent of Police, West Midnapore, led the team from Herua to Dharampur. Forces from both sides started at 8 am and reached Dharampur at 4 pm. The forces were well-equipped with anti-mine vehicles, bomb detection squads.

While marching ahead, Kumar took a detour and first landed up in Pirakuli village. There he spoke to a group of villagers. The locals told him that many of them do not have ration cards and therefore are not getting relief from the local block development office.

Kumar promptly wrote a letter and handed it to them. “Show this letter to the BDO. You will get the relief material. If they do not give you, you come to the police station and show them the letter. We are here to help you,” Kumar assured the villagers.

He and some members of the force then went to the Gouni village. There also the officers informed the villagers about how to collect relief from the BDO’s office.

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