Chhattisgarh ‘hostage’ crisis: Maoists kill 1 tribal, others allowed to return home

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Earlier, the Chhattisgarh government and the police had contradicted each other over the status of “villagers held hostage” by the Maoists on Friday night.

While, Chief Minister Raman Singh said “around 200-250 men have been taken hostage” and “five people have gone to ensure their release”, state home minister Ramsewak Paikra noted “the abducted villagers were BJP members and they were coming for the Prime Minister’s rally.” Local Congress MLA Kawasi Lakhma said around 1,000 armed Maoists forcibly took away residents of five villages with them on Friday night.

The state police, however, had maintained that the villagers, involved in construction work, were forcibly taken away by the Maoists as they did not want them to work on a government project.

Sukma SP D Sravan said: “The Maoists asked them not to undertake such works. They have taken them, their relatives and some other villagers away.”

He stressed that “such situations are usual here. Naxals often take such villagers for indoctrination and release them soon.”

The Ministry of Home Affairs had also asked for the details about the situation, as PTI quoted Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh saying “efforts were on to rescue the villagers”.