Review cases against innocents branded Maoists: Soren

RANCHI - Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren Saturday asked the police to review cases against “innocent people branded as Maoists in the state”, a day after the government freed two Maoists to secure the release of an abducted government official.

“The district police chiefs should investigate the cases filed against innocent people in the state. We have come to know that people who come to police stations are harassed and implicated in false cases,” Soren said while reviewing the Maoist problem in the state with senior police officials.

The meeting was attended by Jharkhand police chief Neyaz Ahmad and Home Secretary J.B. Tubid.

Soren said: “Police stations should be made sensitive. Officials should give attention to people who come with grievances and develop good relations with villagers to get information.”

Soren also expressed unhappiness over the state’s failure to collect intelligence, saying it had let down the police during abduction of the block development officer.