In a fresh twist to the ongoing hostage crisis, the Chhattisgarh government has in an important move decided not to accept the two main demands of the Naxals to release the eight hardcore jailed Maoists and to suspend Operation Greenhunt.
The Naxals had on Saturday kidnapped Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon and have put forward a set of demands for releasing the IAS officer.
These crucial decisions were taken at high-level review meeting chaired by chief minister Raman Singh on late Wednesday night where top security and administration officials were also present. The government has conveyed its decision to its two mediators, Nirmala Buch and S.K. Mishra, alongwith an elaborate explanation in its defence.
There was a unanimous view at the meeting that the state government cannot intervene in the legal process that has already been initiated against the eight hardcore jailed Naxals whose release has been sought. While half of them have already been convicted, cases against others are at an advanced stage of trial.
The Chhattisgarh government, sources said, wants to send out a clear signal to the Naxals that it will not interfere with the “constitutional and judicial process.’’
“The law of the land must take its course without any intervention. Tomorrow Naxals will start adopting similar strategy everywhere,’’ a senior security official said.
In fact, the government has even gone to the extent of communicating to the Naxals that if they were not satisfied with the rationale given by the state administration then they can seek an independent legal opinion from an expert on whether the release of eight Maoists was legally possible or not.