Rebels set 72-hour deadline

KHAMMAM_(ANDHRA PRADESH)_ A file picture of Sukma Collector Alex paul Menon who was kidnapped by Maoist on Saturday. Cadres of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) abducted Alex Paul Menon, the Collector of Chhattisgarh’s troubled Sukma District at about 4:30 Pm on Saturday evening. Mr. Menon was returning from a village meeting when a group of between 15 and 20 Maoists stopped his entourage at Manjipara village, about 8 km from Kerlapal, a village on National Highway 221. PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT KHAMMAM_(ANDHRA PRADESH)_ A file picture of Sukma Collector Alex paul Menon who was kidnapped by Maoist on Saturday. Cadres of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) abducted Alex Paul Menon, the Collector of Chhattisgarh’s troubled Sukma District at about 4:30 Pm on Saturday evening. Mr. Menon was returning from a village meeting when a group of between 15 and 20 Maoists stopped his entourage at Manjipara village, about 8 km from Kerlapal, a village on National Highway 221. PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT - KHAMMAM_(ANDHRA PRADESH)_ A file picture of Sukma Collector Alex paul Menon who was kidnapped by Maoist on Saturday. Cadres of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) abducted Alex Paul Menon, the Collector of Chhattisgarh’s troubled Sukma District at about 4:30 Pm on Saturday evening. Mr. Menon was returning from a village meeting when a group of between 15 and 20 Maoists stopped his entourage at Manjipara village, about 8 km from Kerlapal, a village on National Highway 221. PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The South Bastar Divisional Committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) has released an audio tape, demanding that the State government halt all police operations in the Maoist affected districts and release 6 Maoist workers and those falsely implicated in the Maoist cases within 72 hours to secure the release of Alex Menon, the Collector of Sukma, Chhattisgarh.

The tape was sent to the BBC's Salman Ravi and passed on to this correspondent.

In the statement, the Maoists accused the civil administration of working in tandem with security forces and the political establishment to allocate Chhattisgarh's mineral wealth to large multinational corporations.

“In such a context there is no question of any Collector working for the cause of masses,” claimed the statement.

Wife's appeal

Hyderabad Special Correspondent writes:

Asha Paul Menon, the Collector's wife, has appealed to the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee and civil society members to help her in the safe release of her husband.

In a faxed message here, she said Mr. Menon was from a humble background and an asthma patient. His father underwent two bypass surgeries.