As I joined the district in the month of August 2008, the conditions were worse. The police had still not come out of the fear of Rajpur and Baghela. The DSP incident was also quite fresh in the memory. The police had not visited major areas on the Kaimur Hills for a long time, and several efforts on conducting raids on the Kaimur Hills had resulted in severe losses for the police in terms of lives and the morale.

As I left Bagaha for joining the charge of Rohtas district, I met the Zonal Additional DG of Muzaffarpur , Sh. Krishna Choudhary at his residence, to get the blessings from an oldtimer in the services of Bihar. Discussing about the tasks in Rohtas, he made a mention of the Famous Rohtas Fort. The Rohtas Fort, had almost been forgotten for quite some time, and not many police officers had tried to make it a part of mainstream tourism. After a murder in the 1980’s of a person belonging to the Tilothu family, the Rohtas Fort had remained obscure for general visitors. Visitors did not go to the famous Fort due to the fear of dacoit gangs earlier, and now it was due to the presence of naxals who had reportedly also used the Fort Premises to impart training to newly recruited cadres occasionally. The ADG mentioned that if I could do something which would restore the semblance of Rohtas, it would be great. With these words in mind and with a long cherished dream of seeing the fort in all its majesty, ever since I had worked as the ASP in neighbouring Aurangabad district, I joined Rohtas.

To be continued...