Body of Bihar policeman found as Naxal deadline ends
Mangalore Today News Network
Patna, September 3: An unidentified body of a policeman has been found in the Lakhisarai jungles of Bihar with a note from Naxals that says, "We have killed a hawaldar since our colleagues were not released. If our colleagues are not released we will kill other cops as well.
A new deadline set by the Naxals holding policemen hostage to demand the release of their jailed comrades, ended at 10 am today.
Forty policemen were outpowered by more than 200 Naxals in Bihar’s Lakhisarai district, 150 km east of Patna on Sunday. Seven cops were killed and the Naxals left the battle with four policemen, Abhay Prasad Yadav, Mohammad Ehsaan, Rupesh Kumar Sinha and Lokus Tete.
On Thursday, as their first deadline for their demands to be met ended, the Naxals called local TV channels to declare that one of the four policemen they had kidnapped had been killed as the government had failed to respond. They did not say how they had murdered Abhay Prasad Yadav, a Sub Inspector in his 30s.
Soon, sources in the Intelligence Bureau in Delhi confirmed Yadav’s killing.
It is not yet clear whether the body found today is that of one of the kidnapped cops.
An inspector with Bihar Police, Atul Kumar Mishra, however, confirmed to NDTV that the body found today is not of Abhay Yadav.
"I confirm this is not Abhay. I have worked with him so I know...I haven’t worked with this man...so I don’t know...he might be from the Bihar Military police," he said.
The Naxals warned on Thursday that the other three policemen with them would be safe only till 10 am on Friday, unless eight Naxal leaders were released from jail.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has called an all-party meet tomorrow to discuss the issue.
Sub-Inspector Abhay Yadav is survived by his father, four children, and his wife who was taken to hospital on Thursday after pleading with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in person to help rescue her husband.
On Thursday evening, at a public event, Kumar said he was open to talks with the Naxals. But some reports suggest that before Yadav’s death was announced, Bihar officials were in the midst of negotiations with the insurgents. The state police chief denied this.
"By taking people hostage, I don’t know what example the Naxals are trying to set," Kumar said. The centre has backed him, with the Home Ministry stating, "We are with the Bihar government. We fully support what they are doing."
The Chief Minister’s tightrope skills will be severely tested now. A few months earlier, he said, "Naxal elements are a part of our society even though they have been misled onto the path of violence."
ndtv