Jyotip Mahato, 56, has cultivated his 12 bighas in of Kuldiha village, West Midnapore, for the first time in two years. Paddy and potato have grown and his small mudhouse bustles once again with the sound of grain being husked by women of the village. Jyotip returned home only a couple of months ago, having fled in 2009 when joint forces had raided the village for Maoists. “The Maoists fled into the forest through this village. The forces raided our village and I fled. Since then, I became a ‘Maoist’ in police records with several cases slapped against me,” says Jyotip.