The Telegraph travelled with judge Sarat Chandra Mishra, appointed to record their decision, as he made his way under the thick forest canopy on the two hour steep hike to Lakhapadar. The judge was accompanied by several hundred heavily armed paramilitary police to protect him after the government alleged the area had become 'infested' by Maoist insurgents. The tribesmen say the claim is false and the government has used it to justify a campaign of intimidation against them.