The family of Sankrail police station officer-in-charge Atindranath Dutta on Wednesday appealed to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee not to do anything that could endanger the officer’s life.

Apparently, Dutta’s father Ashoke got in touch with Maoist leader Kishenji through a Bengali news channel pleading for the release of his son, and the latter told him to instead approach the Chief Minister and urge him to agree to their demands.

On Wednesday, Ashoke along with Dutta’s wife Indrani, mother Chhanda, father-in-law Rajen Dutta and brother-in-law Sanjib Dutta met Bhattacharjee at Writers’ Buildings.

According to sources, Bhattacharjee expressed a wish to go to Dutta’s house at Belur in the morning but was told that the family had already reached Writers’ Buildings to meet him.

“We requested the Chief Minister that the government should try its utmost to get my brother-in-law released. We also requested him to ensure that the government does not take any step that endangers the life of Atinda,” Sanjib said.

“Dutta has been in service since 2000 and has a clean record. He has always been kind to people. People can check with police stations where he had worked,” he added. Indrani appealed to the Maoists to release her husband, saying “he has never done any harm to anybody”.

On Wednesday, Kishenji again offered to arrange a meeting between Dutta and his family. “Let the family come to Midnapore and get in touch with me and I will arrange a meeting,” he told a Bengali news channel.

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