Dipayal, July 4:

Policemen in police posts that were re-established in rural areas of Dipayal are having a bad time, especially during the monsoons when the roofs leak.

The offices and the quarters are not properly managed. Most of the re-established police offices have been set up in old buildings damaged by Maoists during the insurgency, while some others have been set up in rented houses.

Spokesman for the far-west regional police office in Dipayal, inspector Til Bahadur Chand, said the condition of the rented buildings in rural areas is not good while the repaired old buildings are beset with leakage problem.

The waters are damaging documents in the offices. Constable Tek Bahadur Saud at the Achham Chaukhate area police office said: “We get worried when it starts raining.”

DIG of police Surendra Bahadur Pal at the far-west regional police office said he was concerned about the policemen deployed in rural areas due to the dilapidated condition of the buildings. Keeping people in custody in such buildings is another worry for the police personnel. “It is a tightrope walk for us. When it rains, our attention gets divided between saving the documents and keeping the detainees in a dry place from where they are unable to escape,” a policeman lamented.

Although the police offices have been re-established, not all of them have communication facilities. Policemen travel long distances just to deliver messages. Since telephone services are not available in the far-west region, it is not easy to transmit urgent messages, police said.

Some 174 police units are deployed in the region.