THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, March 13: Palamu police have set their priority to stop people from sneaking in or sneaking out vast amounts of cash, wine, arms, ammunition, precious metals like gold and silver, freebies, etc. from Jharkhand’s Palamu to Bihar’s Aurangabad and Gaya districts.
Cash and wine
Police typically go all out to find a stash of cash or boxes of wine. Here, Palamu police are determined to check freebies coming in or out during the Lok Sabha election.
SP Reeshma Ramesan, speaking to The Jharkhand Story, said today, “Our boys will keep hawks’ eyes on the freebies. Freebies are to induce voters. They will be checked with as firm a hand as a huge stash of cash, wine, precious metal, illicit arms, or drugs.”
‘Desi Murga’ in Palamu
Freebies in Palamu are different from those in other states. No cell phone set, air cooler, or handy water purifier exists.
Freebies are relatively mundane here. It’s ‘Desi Murga’ distributed a night before the poll. It’s preferred more. A candidate’s worth is valued by the number of country chickens that he or his men distribute.
A considerable number of broilers are bought from Aurangabad and Patna. A susceptible voter is asked to choose his chicken from a fixed seller without paying any fee.
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Inter-state check posts
The SP said, “Our vigil on the interstate check posts will be to abort and crush anything being done clandestinely. We will check freebies and precious metals like gold and silver ornaments.”
“Our top concern is for any transit of huge cash without proper bank receipts as to for whom the cash is meant, who the drawee is, or for how long the cash will have whom,” Reeshma Ramesan added.
Big no to wine
“It will be a big no to wine. Today alone, my boys seized around 1,400 bottles of illicit wine at Dangwar. My boys are destroying fermented mahua, dismantling makeshift hearths,” the SP added.
On Tuesday, the SP inspected two interstate check posts, one at Harihurganj and the other at Naudeeha Bazar.
The Interstate checkpoint at Harihurganj is a high-density checkpoint because of the massive vehicular traffic following this checkpoint’s location on NH 98 and the enormous human population.
Naudeeha Bazar check post
In comparison, the Naudeeha Bazar check post is sedate. It’s not busy, but sneaking in or out is not ruled out.
There are eight interstate check posts in Palamu with long and porous borders with Bihar.
Each of the eight interstate check posts will have 4 CCTV cameras.
All the interstate check posts will be handled 24×7 by cops in three shifts.
Reeshma Ramesan said, “Cops will check smaller and bigger vehicles alike. This will include personal and commercial vehicles, from bikes to cars to containers or trailers.”
Residents have suggested that cops be prevented from harassing people in the name of searches or frisking.
Too many ambulances in 2014
In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, it was discovered by chance that three days ahead of the polling, there came too many ambulances on NH 98.
Too many ambulances aroused suspicion, and when the police investigated, they were stunned to note that these ambulances were just couriers to wine and not ailing patients!
This time, too, the tycoons of the illicit wine and drugs may make a repeat of pushing in too many ambulances on NH for nefarious jobs.
