Maoists hold officials hostage for 3 hours

Vijay Deo Jha | Ranchi

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Additional district magistrate of Latehar Shravan Sai and three other officials of the district administration were kept hostage by the CPI (Maoist) for three hours in Latehar, on Saturday.

The incident took place around 1pm at Bandhuwa village under Manika block where the officials had gone to inspect the progress of the work under the NREGA scheme.

“All four officials, including Sai, Helin Bhengra (Executive Engineer of Road Construction Dept), District Dairy Officer Vinod Kumar Singh, Saryu Ram of the Special Division REO and the peon Kiran Oraon were released by the Naxalites around 4pm,” Kuldeep Dwivedi, SP Latehar said.

An eyewitness narrating the incident said that around 1 pm, four suspected Naxalites on two motorbikes — in civil and police dress — reached a middle school where the officials were discussing about the rural development projects.

“Two Maoists in plainclothes entered the room and asked the officials to come out. Pushing them in a Tata Sumo, the Maoists moved to an unknown location. The incident was brought to the notice by a village- level employee who escaped notice by the Naxalites while sneaking from the place,” the eyewitness said.

The vehicles of the officials JH03B 0127and JH03C 0538 lay abandoned.

Dwivedi claimed that the police had cordoned the area of operation of Yadav, which forced the CPI (Maoist) cadres to set the officials free. They were released at a place nearly two kilometers away from the spot of the crime.

Sources said that the group involved held the ADM and others hostage to protest malpractices in the government-run scheme.

They were released following an assurance that the problems/wrongs would be corrected. The officials were taken to the block office of Manika after their release.

Meanwhile, forces have been deployed to hunt down Naxalites in the area. In the last two weeks after Operation Green Hunt against the red ultras commenced, suspected Naxalites have abducted nearly 10 officials and people.

Meanwhile, human rights activists and intellectuals, including Ramdayal Munda, NRGEA activist Jen Drej, Dr Vandana Shiva, Professor BP Kesri and 40 others, have appealed to the government to halt the operation, which they said, will result in collateral damage for the tribals.

“Innocents get trampled upon and disaffection spreads, things turn counter-productive,” they appealed.

As the security forces launch Operation Green Hunt, intelligence agencies have warned the government that armed Naxalites were ready with their offensive, including abductions of officials, in response to the first security thrust into their strongholds.

Intelligence inputs reaching from different parts of the State, suggest that a large number of Naxal cadres have deserted their bases to melt away into urban anonymity.