All diara residents had been similarly used to this for years. In some villages where the criminals would have had just left, they would run away the moment they saw the police approaching fearing that the police may catch hold of some of them in order to inquire about the whereabouts of the gang members, who later would seek revenge had the police even inadvertently proceeded in the right direction despite having been effort-fully misguided by the poor informant. I felt it the most at one Nainaha village, which was used like a virtual permanent camp by the daysu gangs being located almost in the centre of the vast and inaccessible diara.

The village was located at a distance of only about 10 kms from Ratwal village approachable by metaled road, but was reached only after the vehicles drove through a river channel and into the vast sandy expanses which had either sugarcane or tall grasses and other shrubs growing profusely upon them.

During my visit to Nainaha just 2 or 3 days after the major police raid of the diara, all the villagers on seeing the police approaching in vehicles, simply ran away from their homes leaving behind them unattended burning stoves and their other properties. They largely distrusted the police which always threatened them with dire circumstances for being shelterers of the dasyus, and often detained them for questioning about the latest activities of the dasyus.

I then often had wondered about their peculiar fear of the police and support for the gangs which led to such deemed pitiful existence of theirs, but soon understood that their peculiar behavior was shaped so since they knew that the police would soon leave their territory, while the gangs were there to stay and could not be afforded to be antagonized.

To be continued...