Maoist fear closes down police station
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
A police station in a Bihar village has simply closed down due to fear of Maoists, leaving the villagers insecure and at the mercy of the rebels.
Manikpur police station in Lakhisarai district, about 150 km from here, remained shut for over a week after police officials deserted it out of fear of Maoists.'It was shut due to security reasons,' a police official said. The official said the men posted at Manikpur were shifted to Suryagarh police station. Villagers allege that police officials had 'fled' in panic.
But Lakhisarai Superintendent of Police R. Malar Viji had a different view. He said the Manikpur police station was functioning from a rented house and it lacked adequate security. 'It is not proper to say that it was shut out of fear of Maoists,' he said. The station was established in 1971.
Sources told IANS that dozens of police stations in Lakhisarai district are on the hit list of Maoists. The rebels have threatened to loot arms and ammunition and kill the policemen in these places if they resist. Guerrillas of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist attacked a police picket in the district on Feb 26-27, killed four Bihar Military Police personnel and looted weapons.
posted by Resistance 4/24/2007 05:31:00 PM,
