Ramgarh, West Bengal: Living for long under the fear of the Maoists, the people of this village in West Bengal warmly welcomed the security personnel who flushed out the rebels on Saturday, saying the sight of the uniformed men had instilled a sense of security in them.
After reclaiming this village - for long considered a den of the leftwing rebels - the paramilitary troopers and state armed policemen were pleasantly surprised at the positive vibes from the villagers, even though a majority of them seemed to have fled their homes.
Ramgarh, part of the Lalgarh-headquartered Binpur 1 Community Development Block under West Midnapore district, is around 220 km west of state capital Kolkata.
"We were so long living in fear. There was a lot of trouble in the area. But now we are less afraid. We now have peace of mind," said Omar Ali, a villager, standing a few feet from the police outpost which was torched by the Maoists earlier this month.
The rebels had made the area their den by driving out the police and political opponents.
It took the peacekeepers 12 days to re-enter the area.
"It's good that the forces have come. Now we hopes things will be normal," said villager Dinesh Kumar Roy.
Asked why they were welcoming the securitymen, offering them glasses of water, when people of the village were part of the tribal body People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) that had organised police boycott in the area, a youth said he had no idea about the boycott.
Roy said hours before the forces entered, around 25-30 Maoists rebels had come here and knocked on his door asking for water.
"They drank water and then left saying they will be back," Roy said.
Ali said all the radicals were carrying rifles.
Women of the village also came forward saying the forces have given them a feeling of relief. "We could not sleep at night out of fear. We were so afraid. There is no food. Most of the people have run away fearing for their lives," said a middle-aged woman.
Asked if the Maoists had beaten them up, she said, "No. But the way they torched the outpost made us very nervous. We were waiting for police all these days."
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