Francis Induwar’s widow appeals to Maoists

RANCHI - The widow of Francis Induwar, the special branch inspector who was abducted and beheaded by Maoists last year, has appealed to the Leftwing rebels to free the four policemen taken hostage by them in Bihar.

Two of the four abducted policemen belong to Jharkhand - Ehsan Khan, a resident of Mandar block of Ranchi, and Lukas Tete of Simdega district.

“I appeal to the Maoists to release the abducted policemen. The police are just doing their duty to eke out a living for their families. What will they (Maoists) get by killing the poor people (policemen) who are earning money for their family,” Sunita Induwar, widow of Francis Induwar, told IANS.

She cited her own example.

“What did the Maoists gain by killing my husband? My children became orphaned. I do not want any woman to become a widow or children to get orphaned.”

Francis Induwar was abducted last year by the Maoists from Khuti district and was later beheaded. His decapitated body was recovered from Raisa ghati, on the Ranchi-Jamshedpur national highway.

One of the abducted policemen, Lucas Tete, a resident of Simdega, last spoke to his wife Sunday morning before leaving for an anti-Maoist operation in Lakhisarai of Bihar. Lucas, who belongs to a poor tribal family, has three daughters.

Ehsan has his wife, four children, younger brother and an 80-year-old father to look after. “Allah will save him. We have hopes that he will return alive,” his father, Haji Mohiuddin Khan, told reporters.