Ex-collector Vineel Krishna identifies ‘abductor’

The woman,whom the officer’s abductors addressed as ‘Divya’,was captured by the BSF on April 1,2012 near Janbai in Malkangiri’s remotest corner,which lies cut off by the Gurupriya river. “Vineel Krishna today identified her as one of his abductors. Though he can identify all of his 18 abductors,she is the only one we have nabbed so far,” Malkangiri SP Anirudh Kumar Singh said.

Krishna,who is visiting Malkangiri and Sukma in Chhattisgarh with Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh,took time out to work with the local police today. SP Singh said Divya has confessed to her role in the abduction.

Her husband Anand was one of the two Naxal cadres who watched Krishna round-the-clock in captivity. Divya has allegedly worked for the Maoists since being recruited at a ‘Bal Sangam’ programme about a decade ago.

The police have time until the end of July to file a chargesheet against her.

A former Naxalite named Ramesh said the Maoists organised ‘cultural programmes’ where they lured tribal youths fascinated with firearms. “I was young and was hooked by the arms that they showcased,” Ramesh said. He joined the Naxals in 2002,he said,when he was barely 15. Subsequently,he learnt to use an SLR and exchanged fire with the BSF in Narayanpatna in Koraput district on a couple of occasions,he said.

Ramesh surrendered about a month ago to start a new life under the government’s rehabilitation programme. “The thought that I could get killed at any time had been bothering me for about a year,” he said. “So,I decided to quit.”

IAS officer Alex Paul Menon returned to work as collector of Sukma on Monday after a break following his release by Maoists in Chhattisgarh. He told The Indian Express that he intended to stay put in his job.

“I have not requested the state government for a transfer. I will stay here and continue to carry out much-needed development works,” Menon said. He has sought more funds and relaxation of norms from the Central government to expedite development projects in the Naxalism-hit Konta block of Sukma district.

Sources in the Chhattisgarh government said the kidnapping of Menon was part of a larger operation planned by the Maoists in which they had intended to simultaneously target two other IAS officers. However,Bijapur collector Rajat Kumar escaped a landmine explosion the day before Menon was abducted,and Dantewada collector O P Chaudhary,who was scheduled to travel to the interiors of the district on April 21 — the day of Menon’s abduction — changed his plans at the last moment.