Author: Vivek Deshpande
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: February 28, 2008
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/277968.html
"One number sentryiiiiiiii..., hoshiyaaaar
hai".
The loud, long-winding call in the dead of
night breaks the silence in this village situated perilously close to the
thickly-forested Naxal dreamland of Abujmad. Twelve hard-hit bangs of tolls
rippling out of an iron bell, denoting the time, follow. And barely have the
echoes died, there's another one: "two number sentryiiiiiiii..., hoshiyaaaar
hai" followed, this time, by a solitary toll. Then another one. And then
yet another one. And then the call-toll combo is fired one last time by the
fifth sentry.
Spending a night in the vicinity of Jaravandi's
fortress-like police station not only unsettles a stranger, but also keeps
the village of 3,000 alert, if not awake. Remaining alert should ideally be
the name of the game here because Jaravandi as police station has been dealing
with Naxalism for 17 years now.
Until four months ago, the area under it was
a Naxal hotbed. The Janatana Sarkar bid by the Naxals had policemen hurrying
on a "goodwill" mission to the villages and ultimately 28 Naxal
workers laid down arms on January 12.
Seventy-eight km from Gadchiroli town and
55 km from the tehsil headquarter of Etapalli, Jaravandi is one of the 44
outposts in the district that has 3,000 policemen for 10 lakh population.
The 75-strong posse here, including 32 State Reserve Police (SRP) men and
43 regular state policemen, can't afford one lax moment, what with the Naxals
trying to form a Janatana Sarkar (people's government) in 11 villages within
the police station's jurisdiction.
"The alert calls ensure that our men
remain alert," says Sub-Inspector Sudhakar Dede, 30, who commandeers
the police station. Dede, who has been around here for 19 months, has two
probationer PSIs Nilesh Gaikwad, 29, and Rajesh Rathod, 26, to assist him.
In all, there are four Assistant PSIs and four Head Constables. The rest,
including five women, are constables.
Situated inside the village, the police station
has five sentry watch-posts along its tall walls mounted with rounds of barbed
wires. Being surrounded by the village along three of its watch-posts, the
police station has to be extra alert. "One never knows if the enemy is
watching you from one of those houses," Dede says.
The two posts at the back face the thick forests,
with a beautiful lake silhouetted against it. Just 12 km away lies Kanker,
another Naxal bastion and a Salva Judum battlefront, in Chhattisgarh.
"Most of our men are in their 30s. Only
the ASIs are 45," Dede says. Indeed, Dede's men do look fit.
Incidentally, Dede belongs to Tuljapur in
Marathwada and had never seen Gadchiroli before being sent here on his first
posting. The same goes for Gaikwad from Nashik and Rathod from Satara.
"Most of our constables, however, are
local tribals, who know the area very well," Dede says.
Unlike many other police stations, 90 per
cent of Jaravandi staffers have their families staying with them, but in the
village. There is an Ashram School up to Std XII and a private one up to Std
X. The village is a marketplace for surrounding villages and has a post-office
too.
The policemen have tin barracks as living
quarters. "They do get very hot in summer, but despite funds we can't
get contractors to build permanent structures - nobody wants to risk coming
here. Finally, we have got one and are constructing staff quarters."
Jaravandi's day begins with a roll call, with
uniformed policemen doing the drill with their weapons. "We have all
necessary equipment - SLRs, walkie-talkies, telephone, a wireless tower, abundant
water, etc. And we now also have a TV," Dede says.
A lone jeep stands in the police station's
forecourt. "We can't use it. It's risky with the area being strewn with
old landmines. We have to walk or use a State Transport bus to go to Gadchiroli
or Etapalli," Dede says.
The daily routine of the cops includes going
on Short Range Patrol (SRP), a 5-10 km walk in jungles. "We strictly
follow the standard operating procedure (SOP). We undertake long range patrol
(LRP) spending and camping inside the forest for 2-3 days, 3-4 times a months,"
Dede says.
While the Additional Superintendent of Police
and the DySP visit the police station once a month, the SP also pays surprise
visits and calls once every 15 days on wireless. Dede has to attend a review
meeting at Gadchiroli every month.
Yet, till four months ago, Jaravandi PS had
little to show in terms of control over its area. Eleven of the villages had
lapsed into Naxal control and were helping the bid to form a people's government.
The Naxals, led by North Gadchiroli Divisional Committee member Joganna, had
weaned the villages away from administrative control and had involved them
in setting up various committees that would run their government.
"Till October, 2006, the area on the
two sides of Jaravandi-Kasansur road was home to intense Naxal activities
like road blockades, ambushes, etc. We had great difficulty going to those
villages which were completely with the Naxals," says Dede.
"When Kasansur Dalam commander Bharti
Akka surrendered in September, she spilled the beans about Janatana Sarkar.
Since then, we started an intensive Gram Bhet (village visits) campaign. We
told the villages that they are free to help Naxals, but then should anything
go wrong they would have themselves to blame for it. We asked them about their
developmental needs and assured them to get the demands met from the administration.
We persuaded them tirelessly and they finally deserted the Naxalites and surrendered,"
he says.
DSP Rajesh Pradhan, 30, admits they didn't
know about Janatana Sarkar as such, but were aware of the villages following
Naxal diktats. "But finally, they have come out of it," he says,
adding, "since October, we haven't had a single incident in the area,
clearly indicating that the villagers are with us now."
The government has sanctioned about Rs 22
lakh for the development of the villages. But shall the reversal of fortune
stay long with the police?
"We will try everything to get these
villages what they want," says Pradhan. But going by the government's
poor record about building on the gains of Gram Bhet or Jan Jagram Melawa
(awareness rallies), it won't be long before Jaravandi villages are again
wooed by the Naxalites.
