Cops kidnapped: Maoists set conditions for release

A week after the Naxalites abducted five policemen from Bastar, the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) have come out with their 11 point demands, including scrapping the ongoing efforts to set up Army training facilities in the foothills of Abujmarh in Narayanpur district in tribal Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. “Five security personnel are in the custody of East Bastar Divisional Committee. Its leader Comrade Nitu has asked me to convey to the media that all of them will remain in ‘custody’ till the government meets all the 11 demands”, said an unidentified person who telephoned journalists in the state capital late last night.

Five policemen — identified as Ramadhar Patel, Raghunandan Dhurv, T Ekka (all head constables) and Constables Mani Shankar and Ranjan Dubey — were abducted by the rebels on January 25 while they were travelling in a private bus in Narayanpur district. The Naxalites intercepted the vehicle and searched the passengers. The rebels identified these security personnel through their official identity cards and took them away at gun point.

One civilian, Gulchand, who was also abducted by the rebels suspecting to be a special police officer (SPO), however returned to his village in Narayanpur after the rebels verified his credentials and later set him free.
Maoists demand for closure of Army training facilities comes at a time when the Army has geared up to establish its training facilities in the foothills of Abujmarh—a nearly 4000 square kilometers un-surveyed area considered as a part of the so-called liberated zone of Dandakaranya of the Maoists and where the presence of civil administration is virtually zero.

While the Army has been emphasizing that its plans are limited to training, it has sought guidelines from the government in the event of Maoist attack on its training facilities. Chhattisgarh-Orissa Sub Area (COBA) and other wings of Army have started functioning in the state.
“Police are carrying out searches in many villages, harassing the local tribals. It’s a futile exercise. They will remain under "arrest" till all the demands are met with”, the caller claimed and listed out the other demands, including release of 15 villagers, who were detained by the police, accusing them of being Naxalites. The rebels also want that the state government should scrap all Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) signed with major industrial houses, stop operation green hunt and area domination exercises.

The other demands of Naxalites include withdrawal of Central Para Military Forces which have ‘occupied’ the school buildings and sending back of additional forces requisitioned from other places for operations in Bastar, compensation to villagers whose houses were damaged by the security forces on suspicion of being Naxalites.
The Naxalites, however, did not set any dead line for compliance of their demands.
“We are still continuing out combing and search operations in the forests. We have learnt about the Maoists demands and are trying to verify from our own channels”, Inspector General of Police (Bastar) range T J Longkumer told The Indian Express. “Many strategies are adopted to resolve a hostage crisis, particularly when it’s in a forest area where there are virtually no communication facilities. Unlike in urban areas, every single step towards securing their safe release takes a lot of time”, he said.

Driven to desperation, close relatives — including women and children — of abducted policemen are camping in Narayanpur district from where they have moved into the remote villages in the interiors in search of them. The relatives have also issued a public appeal to the captors to release them on humanitarian grounds.
When the rebels had abducted four policemen few months ago, their relatives — including women and children — went all the way to Hyderabad and met Maoist ideologue Vara Vara Rao, who issued an appeal to the rebels to set them free. Almost a week later, the rebels released them unharmed and handed over them to Journalists in Dantewada.
 
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