Maoists free abducted teacher to scribes

KOLKATA - A schoolteacher abducted by Maoists was handed over unharmed to mediapersons in the Mohulboni forest of West Bengal and went back home saying he would continue to teach, police said Tuesday.

He was released Monday night, three days after his abduction in West Midnapore district. “Ranjit Dule was handed over to journalists who escorted him out of the forest,” Inspector General of Police (Western range) Zulfiqar Husan told IANS.

“They (journalists) handed him over to Lalgarh police station. We have sent Dule to his Sarenga residence in Bankura. He is fine now.”

Dule said after being released by the Maoists: “I never hurt anybody in my life. I always tried to impart education to all children living in the villages of Sarenga. I will continue to do that. I am really grateful to all who helped me come back home.”

Dule, a former Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) supporter, was abducted Friday by a group of suspected Maoists in Bankura district’s Sarenga village, 160 km west of here.

He was picked up by members of the Sidhu-Kanhu Gana Militia - the armed wing of the Maoist-backed People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) - from Shibram Satpathy School in Bankura town.

Earlier, family members of the abducted schoolteacher had condemned the security forces’ drive in the forest-covered region. They also appealed to the Maoists to set Dule free.