Source: Hueiyen News Service / Agency
Ranchi, December 05 2009:
Silang Thu lies sprawled on a blanket in the ward.
"I have headache and feel like vomiting," he mumbles.
Thu is among the 25 jawans of the Nagaland Armed Force, who were admitted to the dengue ward of the state-run RIMS hospital here on Thursday night after complaining of fever, headache and vomiting.
For the past month, these Naga soldiers were deputed in the Tamar (ST) constituency on poll duty.
They were successful in their mission as the polls held there on December 2 passed off peacefully.
But Tamar, apart from being infested with Maoists, is a malaria prone belt dotted with green hills and forest where there is no potable water.
"We had heard that this area was the den of Maoists.
We did not see them anywhere.
But the schools where we were lodged, were full of mosquitoes.
There was no potable water.
We used to drink water from the hand pump after boiling it, but this did not help," complained Thu.