There are chances Maoists will free IAS officer, says Chhattisgarh home minister

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Chhattisgarh home minister Nankiram Kanwar dropped hints Tuesday abducted Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon may be “released unconditionally”.

“There are chances the kidnapped IAS officer will be freed by Maoists, who are holding him hostage since April 21, very soon,” he told reporters.

Confirming Tuesday’s DC report on the location of the collector, he said, “Menon has been kept in a border village in Chhattisgarh, close to an interstate river. His Maoist abductors have so far been unsuccessful in shifting him out of the state.”

The minister said the kidnappers were in constant touch with “some” sarpanchs in the region. These Maoist sympathisers are under strict “vigilance”.

“We have been receiving vital clues from our networks in Kerlapal [Sukma district] and Dornapal and Chintalnar in neighbouring Dantewada district that have given us a fair idea of the location of the district collector,” he said.

Earlier in the morning, chief minister Raman Singh rushed his 'emissary' with medicines hours after Maoists sent a virtual SOS through a section of the local media past-Monday midnight indicating that the 'health condition' of Mr Menon, an asthma patient, was 'critical'.

CM also set in motion the process of initiating a dialogue with Maoists to secure release of the 32-year-old officer by declaring names of two interlocutors to negotiate with Maoist-appointed mediators.

He sought extension of the April 25 deadline set by Maoists to meet the demand of releasing eight ultras.

CM’s emissary former Konta MLA Manish Kunjam flew to Sukma in a helicopter to meet Mr Menon’s wife Asha and took medicine kits from her to Tadmetla in Dantewada district by road to hand it over to Maoists.

Mr Kunjam said Ms Asha asked him to urge Maoists to take care of her husband. She later told reporters she was greatly worried about his health.