Purported Maoists having allegiance to the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) have once again made their presence felt in Almora district with posters being found on Sunday night pasted on the walls of the Government buildings- block development office and a government-run inter college based at Dhaulichheena - reiterating the outlawed outfit’s support to the demand for prohibition in the state. The area being under the jurisdiction of the revenue police, those behind the poster -pasting game remain unidentified with a section of the revenue police throwing up their hands, citing dearth of wherewithal to take on the purported left wing extremists. Notably, such posters had been found a few months ago pasted on the walls of some important government buildings in the same district, exhorting the common people to eliminate those engaged in the booze trade if necessary. Even prior to that, posters had surfaced when the state was in the thick of electioneering with the posters asking the people to stay away from the democratic exercise.
Through the posters thus pasted, those behind it claimed that they are not from Nepal and are local residents, struggling to make the state free from liquor. They affirmed that they would continue to espouse the cause of booze ban while lending their full weight behind the women who are spearheading the fight against boozing in the hills.
Taking a serious note of the latest development, the sub-divisional magistrate Vivek Rai has directed the block development officer and the principal of the inter college to seek explanation from the guards (fourth class employees) who were deputed on night duty on Sunday at the BDO office and the government-run inter college. The suspicion lingering in the administration is that some locals are lending covert support to the outlaws. Rai said that they are all concerned over the matter. “We are seriously probing the developments. Appropriate actions will be taken based on the investigation,” he added.