As the jawans wait for food, a car screeches to a halt outside the police station. The sentry at the gate shouts: “Halt... Kaun Hai” and takes position with the SLR. Two people step out of the car and reply “Dost” (Friend). Inside, jawans waiting for dinner panic and then relax after the two people identify themselves as prominent locals and say they want to meet the officer-in-charge. They leave after a few minutes of conversation.

“At night we don’t take chances. Anyone passing the police station is asked to halt and identify. The sentry at the gate, on the watchtowers and the rooftop are vigilant throughout the night. With God’s grace we have not faced any attack so far”, says SI Thakur (40) who was posted to this police station in November last year. His tenure here is for two years while BMP jawans get transferred every three months. Thakur lives here alone while his wife and children reside in Muzaffarpur.

Fighting the Naxals isn’t top of the mind. The Nitish Kumar government has so far not gone all out against the Naxalites, maintaining that an all-out offensive won’t help solve the problem. Kumar himself has said several times that he is concerned about development in Naxal-affected areas since lack of development is at the root of the problem.

When contacted IG (Operations) S K Bhardwaj acknowledged that despite some improvement, police stations still have a long way to go to counter the Naxalite terror. Asked in particular about the lack of basic infrastructure at Banke Bazar police station, Bhardwaj blamed the state Home and Finance departments for delaying sanction of projects. “These departments take a lot of time to sanction projects. But in recent times, the situation has improved and the results will soon be visible on the ground,” he told The Indian Express.

... contd.