Maoists sorry for wrongly saying Yadav was killed

PATNA - A day after the bullet-riddled body of Bihar cop Lucas Tete was found, Maoists Saturday apologised for wrongly saying that they had killed Sub-Inspector Abhay Kumar Yadav. The rebels said that the other three policemen they had abducted were safe.

Maoist spokesperson Avinash told a local Hindi news channel that he was sorry for the wrong information he gave Thursday about Yadav’s death.

The bullet-riddled body of Tete was recovered Friday morning in the Simratali forests of Lakhisarai district, about 150 km from state capital Patna.

Avinash claimed the mistake was due to a communication gap between him and his comrades in the hilly, forest area of Lakhisarai.

The spokesperson Saturday said that the remaining three policemen are safe and well but he refused a request to allow them to talk to their families.

Four Bihar policemen - Tete, Yadav, Rupesh Kumar Sinha and Ehsan Khan - were kidnapped by Maoists after a six-hour gunfight in Lakhisarai district Sunday. The gunbattle left seven policemen dead and 10 injured.

Avinash Thursday evening claimed that Yadav was killed by Maoists, six hours after their second deadline expired at 10 a.m. for the release of eight jailed Maoist leaders. He had said the decision to kill him was taken by a ‘jan adalat’ - a kangaroo court.

Maoists claimed Sunday’s gunfight and kidnappings were in retaliation for the killing of their leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad and a journalist on the night of July 1-2 in Andhra Pradesh.

The Maoists have also warned the Bihar government of more attacks if the operations against them did not stop immediately.