Naxals demand Mahato,Ghandy release to free abducted cop

The 63-year-old,London-educated,Ghandy was arrested in New Delhi on September 20. Mahato,who organised tribals under the banner of the Maoist-backed Peoples Committee against Police Atrocities in Lalgarh,was picked up on September 26 by policemen posing as journalists. Yadav’s arrest was announced by police in Kolkata yesterday.

Induwar,an intelligence officer posted in Khunti with the Jharkhand Special Branch,was carried off by four armed men from a market where he had gone to purchase household goods. There has been no trace of him since,sources in the police said.

“Induwar is safe in our custody. We will free him only after the police release Gandhy,Mahato and Yadav,” Samarji was quoted as saying. A CPI (Maoist) pamphlet said: “The police are harassing a number of our cadres. We will now do the same with its cadres.”

Police spokesperson and IG S N Pradhan said hostage-taking was a “new and dangerous strategy” adopted by the Maoists. “We have taken note of it and hopefully we will come up with an appropriate move to counter it.”

Some 3,500 Special Branch personnel are currently on intelligence-gathering missions across Naxalite-hit areas of Jharkhand. The Jharkhand Police Association has demanded immediate steps to trace Inspector Induwar.