The distraught families of the four policemen kidnapped by Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district have appealed to the rebels not to kill the hostages even as the 48-hour deadline set by them expires on Tuesday night.
The family members are worried about their safety and some of them have left for Andhra Pradesh.
The Chhattisgarh government said it would take the help of social activists and local media for the safe release of the policemen kidnapped on September 19 from the Bhopalpatnam police area. The personnel were taken captives from an area bordering Andhra Pradesh and the police have information that they are being kept in the forest on the border, Principal Secretary (Home) N.K. Agarwal told PTI.
“Chhattisgarh is in constant touch with the Andhra Pradesh government and has appealed to the social activists and media in the neighbouring State to assist in the unconditional release of the policemen,” he said.
Chief Minister Raman Singh, at a high-level meeting, directed officials to ensure that the policemen were freed unharmed, said Mr. Agarwal.
Meanwhile, social activist Swami Agnivesh has appealed to the Maoists not to harm the four policemen. “I appeal to Maoists that now they have taken them [policemen] hostage as PoWs [prisoners of war], no bodily harm should be done to them,” he told PTI.
Maoist sympathiser Varavara Rao and Mr. Singh, among others, have appealed to the Maoists to free assistant sub-inspector Sukhruram Bhagat, and constables Narendra Bhosale, Subhash Patre and B. Toppo.
About the 48-hour deadline set by the ultras, Mr. Agarwal said the government was looking into their demands.
Earlier, Home Minister Nanki Ram Kanwar said: “The Naxals have demanded the halting of ‘Operation Green Hunt', release of imprisoned cadres, curtailing police atrocities and initiating peace talks in exchange for the abducted policemen.”
Mr. Kanwar said he had directed the senior police officers to verify the letter of demands received from the Naxals as it reached the government through local media on Sunday night.
“The deadline given is not sufficient, as the decision of calling back paramilitary forces from the Naxal-infested areas and releasing Naxals from jails cannot be taken in a hurry,” Mr. Kanwar said, adding the government was thinking over the demands.
Of the seven policemen kidnapped on September 19 from Bhopalpatnam near the Chhattisgarh-Andhra Pradesh border, the bodies of three of them were found two days later with Maoist literature lying nearby.
