48-hour Maoists’ ultimatum on abducted Chhattisgarh cops

RAIPUR - After a week’s silence, the Maoists Sunday evening set a 48-hour deadline for accepting their demands for releasing the four Chhattisgarh policemen they claim to have abducted Sep 19.

“There were a few handwritten leaflets found in Bijapur district’s Bhopalpatanam area Sunday in which Maoists have stated their demands included scrapping the anti-Maoist drive otherwise they will eliminate the policemen within 48 hours,” state Director General of Police (DGP) Vishwa Ranjan told IANS.

Maoists had kidnapped seven policemen Sep 19 from Bhopalpatnam area of Bijapur district close to Andhra Pradesh border and had killed three of them a day later.

Officials at the police headquarters here said that an assistant sub-inspector, S. Bhagat, and three constables are in the Maoist’s captivity and the ultras have probably been shuttling them from one densely forested location to another between Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

Police were also trying to verify whether the letter is genuinely written by the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), he added.

“The letter has stated demands for scrapping the anti-Maoist drive Green Hunt, releasing a few people of four villages, stopping alleged police atrocities and starting peace talks,” the DGP said.

He said those “villagers” whose release the Maoists had demanded were actually village-level cadres of Maoists arrested on charges of involvement in unlawful activities.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has appealed to the Maoists to release the policemen on humanitarian grounds. The government said it was in touch with Andhra Pradesh to track down Maoists and ensure safe release of the four policemen.