But consider these:

• For the past two months, the police station has remained in darkness as the kerosene generator is out of order and there’s no mechanic to repair it.

• Availability of electricity is less than two hours a day.

• There is only one jeep for the entire station. Even this gives up as maintenance cost is difficult to get.

• The phone line of the station lies disconnected for the past four months due to non-payment of bills.

• The officer-in-charge does not have an official mobile and uses his private set for communication.

• Wireless set is in working condition but charging its battery becomes difficult due to lack of power.

• The police station does not have any anti-landmine vehicle or mine-detecting devices. The only hope in case of a Naxal attack rests with the CRPF camp 15 km west at Imamganj on the same road.

As darkness descends, the hills across the road that run into Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh loom like ghosts. By 7 pm, all shops in this market down their shutters, men in uniform get inside the police station. Two Gurkha jawans rush to take positions atop the two watchtowers. A third paces up the two-storeyed building where BMP jawans are housed while a fourth takes position behind the sandbags at the entrance. The driver runs and brings the police station’s lone vehicle, a jeep, from the roadside to the “safe zone” inside the police station. Others get to the routine business of lighting kerosene lanterns and two cooks start the kitchen fire for dinner.

... contd.