Chhattisgarh slows down anti-Maoist drive till Menon's release

"The whole focus is now to secure the safe and early release of Alex Paul Menon. The anti-Maoist operation issue can follow later on," a senior official at the police headquarters here told IANS.

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The Maoists have demanded freeze on Operation Green Hunt against them and the release of eight of their jailed colleagues in exchange for Menon, whom they took hostage Saturday.u00a0

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Menon, 32, a 2006 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, was kidnapped at gunpoint from a forested location, some 500 km south from here, when he was interacting with tribals. The Maoists killed his two guards when they resisted his abduction.

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"The state government is considering the Maoists' demands very sympathetically but it will take a final call on the matter taking the central government and the state's political parties into total confidence," sources in the home department said.u00a0

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The state government has also formed a five-member team headed by Chief Minister Raman Singh to look into Maoists' demands.u00a0

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The team includes Public Works Department Minister Brijmohan Agrawal, Water Resources Minister Ramvichar Netam, Home Minister Nankiram Kanwar and Tribal Welfare Minister Kedar Kashyap.

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Maoists late Sunday said in a message taped anonymously that Chhattisgarh's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime must free their colleagues - Marakam Gopannam, Nirmal Akka, Devpal Chandra Shekher Reddy, Shanti Priya Reddy, Meena Chowdhary, Korasa Sunny, Markan Sunny and Asit Kumar Sen - by April 25 in exchange of the kidnapped district collector.u00a0

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