BDO set free as Soren buckles

For his safe return,the Maoists had listed their demands. These were: halt anti-Naxal operations; arrest Nagrik Suraksha Samiti president Shankar Chandra Hembrom who has mobilised tribals of the district against the Maoists; pay Rs 10 lakh in compensation to the family of one of their comrades,Sanjiv Munda,who was killed by the security forces in a “false encounter”; a statement from the Chief Minister promising “no police atrocities on innocent people”; and release of 14 “innocent villagers arrested on false charges”.

Except for the arrest of Hembrom,the remaining demands were met as the anti-Naxalite operation was stopped,Rs 10 lakh was paid to the next of kin of Sanjiv Munda,and IG Rezi Dungdung initiated the process of releasing the 14 villagers,though none of them was released as their cases were being heard by the courts concerned.

“Their main demand is connected with the release of villagers. Since the move to get them out of jail has been initiated,I appeal to them to release our officer safely,” Soren had said in a statement on Wednesday night.

Announcing his release,DGP Neyaz Ahmad said,“We are very happy that he has come out safely.”

The security forces led by East Singhbhum SP Naveen Kumar Singh had zeroed in on the BDO location after the CPI(Maoist) cadres made Layek speak to his wife Julie on cellphone on Wednesday morning. “After we cut off the supply line,the abductors deemed it fit to release him to keep the public opinion in their favour,” said Singh.

To release the BDO,the Maoists called a group of journalists led by Anuj Kumar Sinha,resident editor of local Hindi daily Prabhat Khabar,to the jungle and handed Layek over to them. “We wanted to hand him over to senior police officers. But the police did not let us do so,” said Sinha.

Since January 1,1999,the Maoists have killed more than 350 police personnel. After this state was created almost a decade ago,Naval Kishore Prasad Sinha,BDO of Gidaur block in Chatra district,was abducted by the Maoists. Later,they chopped off his hands and shot him dead on December 12,2000. Again,they kidnapped Francis Induwar,Inspector of the state’s Special Branch,and beheaded him on September 30,2009.