C’garh: As Maoist deadline nears,no headway yet on abducted cops

“She is the wife of slain SPO Erpa Krishna’s brother. Her brother had told the police that she is in the advanced stages of pregnancy,” Kalluri said. He added search operations have been stepped up in the forests to trace her and the abducted policemen. However,there is still no word from the Maoists that the woman is in their captivity.

Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) T J Longkumer said the woman was in captivity Maoists,who were apparently shifting their hostages from one place to another in the dense forests around the inter-state border with Andhra Pradesh. Most of these areas lacked communication facilities with no mobile network coverage. It is also suspected that Maoists might have taken their hostages to the forests of Andhra Pradesh. The police,therefore,have sought the help of the neighbour force.

Police sources in Badrakali-Bhopalpattanam area said the woman Kursam Jyoti was on her way home from a check-up with SPO Erpa Krishna,when the rebels abducted them. Later,Erpa Krishna’s body was found near Depla along with the bodies of two constables.

In the handwritten leaflets ― which made clear the rebels’ deadline for accepting their demands for – the Maoists did not mention a women was also in their captivity. Besides,Naxal ideologue Varavara Rao,who made an appeal to the Maoists for the release of the four policemen,did not mention either about the woman.

The state government has stepped up its efforts for the safe release of the policemen ― ASI Sukhram Bhagat and constables B Toppo,Narendra Khosle,Subhash Ratre,who were abducted by the rebels on September 19 between Bhopalpattanam and Badrakali in Bijapur district.

Another constable Dullaram Sodi,who also went missing on September 13,is also believed to be in the captivity of the Maoists. Earlier,the Maoists had killed two constables and a Special Police Officer (SPO) and their bodies were recovered from the forests near Depla a few days after their abduction.

State Chief Minister Raman Singh spoke to Andhra Pradesh governor E S L Narasimhan ― who had earlier served as Chhattisgarh governor– and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rossiah and sought help in the efforts to trace the abducted policemen in forest areas close to the inter-state border.

Meanwhile,close relatives of the abducted policemen were in Hyderabad where they met Maoist ideologue Varavara Rao,who made an appeal to the Maoists not to harm their hostages and to release them on humanitarian grounds.

“The state government has kept all options open. We have activated all channels to establish contact with the abductors for the safe release of policemen,” Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary N Baijendra Kumar said while other government sources said the authorities were also in touch with a few human rights organisations and other NGOs who could talk to the rebels for securing the release of abducted policemen.

Meanwhile,senior Congress leader and former chief minister Ajit Jogi has appealed to Maoists to release the abducted policemen,pointing out that all of them belonged to poor families and they were the sole bread winners of their respective families.

Maoists have placed five demands for the release of the abducted policemen,including stopping ‘Operation Green Hunt’ and the anti-naxalite drive,withdrawing para-military forces,releasing Naxalite leaders from jail,releasing arrested people of Sirkonta,Somanpalli and Pillur villages and bringing an end to police atrocities. Besides,the Maoists have also urged the government to initiate peace talks.

The manner,however,in which Maoists placed their demands by dropping handwritten leaflets and pasting posters on trees near Cherpalli village near Bhopalpattanam is also being seen as unusual. Normally,the rebels in Bastar adopt the practice of either calling up television media or send written press notes to newspaper offices in Bastar to put out their views after any major incident. This time,they dropped leaflets in a remote village and it came to the notice of local journalists.