In the initial days in 2008, the conditions were not very encouraging. The police had still not overcome the fear of losses suffered during several Maoist incidents which were quite fresh in their memory.

The police had not visited major areas on the Kaimur Hills for a long time, and successive efforts for conducting anti Maoist operations on the Kaimur Hills had often resulted in losses for the police.

It was in this background that the police activity on the Rohtas Fort started. The history of the Fort was not very well known, and most people knew it only as somewhat related to the activities of the medieval ruler Sher Shah Suri. Even good photographs of the Fort were not publically available, and not much information was available on the internet. 

I made a study of the History of the Fort from the Shahabad Gazetteer, and from the Journal of Shahabad of Francis Buchanan, kept during his survey in 1812-13. The works of local scholars on Rohtas also enriched my knowledge.

To be continued......