Govt bows down to Maoists’ deadline

Vijay Deo Jha/Parvinder Bhatia | Ranchi/Jamshedpur

RANCHI | Thursday, February 18, 2010

The Jharkhand Police has decided to suspend operation against Naxals in Ghorabandha in Ghatshila to rescue BDO Prashant Kumar Layek. On Wednesday, the police also moved Ghatsila court requesting to reinvestigate the cases of 14 undertrails whose release was set as a pre-condition by the Maoists for the safe release of Layek.

The police acted on the Naxals’ demand a few hours before the deadline given by Maoists ended on Wednesday evening. “We have moved a step further and are hopeful that Layek will be released very soon. The Government is ready to reopen their cases to see whether cases against them are false or true,” said Ranchi-range IG Police Rezi Dundung.

The court agreed to grant permission for the reinvestigation of nine undertrials out of 14, namely Ashwini Murmu, Luso Baske, Arjun Soren, Sukhram Munda, Kafra Mardi, Basanti Patar, Suraj Murmu, Jasmine Mardi and Bahadur Mardi.

Meanwhile, the police are reported to have released the father of Kanhu Munda, a Naxalite. Addressing the media at SDPO office in Ghatshila, Dundung said that the police will review the cases of undertrails and make sure that justice prevails.

The IGP, who also visited these undertrials in Ghatshila sub jail on Wednesday morning, said that during his investigation he had found that police had not been fair in some cases.

He also went on to inform that the operation against the ultras has been temporarily suspended in Ghoragandha in Ghatshila, however forces have been kept ‘as they were’.

The State Government took the decision after it reportedly decided to open political channel for the negotiation.

Well-placed source in the police confided JMM MLA from Ghatsila Ramdas Soren was asked to hold negotiation with the banned outfit CPI(Maoist).

The decision, source said, was taken both at political and administrative levels the day after the BDO was abducted. Although Ramdas Soren refused to comment but added that he was quite concern for the safe release of Layek and he was ready to offer his service if required.

Ramdas is reported to have held at least three rounds of negotiations with the top leaders of the CPI(Maoist) through local operatives. “Political negotiation is one thing. It has nothing to do with what police have been doing against Naxalites. But it is a different case. We have been asked to scale down deployments,” a senior police official said over telephone.

Meanwhile, Maoists allowed the abducted BDO to talk to her wife Juli Bharti over telephone from some undisclosed location. Appealing Maoists to release her husband, she said that her husband was innocent.