Till the advent of the Maoists in recent history, the hills were known for dacoits. The menace of dacoits had also been documented during Mughal Rule. Presently, the hills of the 2 districts of Rohtas and Kaimur are notified as a wildlife sanctuary. The hills presented a tough challenge for policing as there was no police post above the hills in Rohtas district. The only post on Kaimur Hills was at Adhaura in Kaimur district. The distance from Rohtas PS situated at the foot of the Rohtas Fort (at a height of 1500 ft) to Adhaura was about 45 kms. There were only 3 motorable ascents to the hills. Apart from these ascents which were in the form of unmetalled forest roads, all other ascents were possible only by trekking on foot. The first ascent near Rohtas led to the Dhansa Ghati on the hill top. The second ascent was at Tarachandi on the GT Road. From here one could climb via Ghorghat, and reach Dhansa via Budhua.

The third ascent was from Bhagwanpur to Adhaura in Kaimur district (metalled till Adhaura). Maoists had been planting landmines on these ascents to avoid police movement above the hills. This made the area out of bounds for regular tourism. Several casualties of security personnel had taken place while trying to ascend the hills. The extremists continued to be in command of the Kaimur Hills and the Rohtas Fort, disturbed only by infrequent raids of the police teams which had a tactical disadvantage in organizing raids on the hills due to geographical, infrastructural and social constraints.

To be continued......