Maoists free abducted Bengal police officer

Kolkata: After threatening to kill him, Maoists freed abducted police officer Atindranath Dutta in West Bengal on Thursday evening, almost three days after they had kidnapped him, in a swap with a group of Maoist women activists.

Around noon, a West Bengal court released 14 tribal women from jails, which was one of the conditions laid down by the rebels for Dutta's freedom. The women were jailed for their alleged links with the Maoists.

Director General of West Bengal Police Bhupinder Singh told mediapersons in Kolkata that Dutta, officer-in-charge of Sankrail police station in West Midnapore district, was on his way home after his release.

State Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty spoke to the police officer's father Ashok Dutta and gave him the good news.

A relieved Ashok Dutta told reporters, "I was told I can speak to him after some time."

The father had fervently appealed both to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Koteshwar Rao alias Kishanjee, a top leader of banned outfit Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), for his son's release.

"We got great help from the administration. There was reasoned thinking on their part," the father said, thanking the chief minister.

The chief secretary was equally happy, "We are relieved. We were under a lot of tension for the last two days. We were worried about his (Atindranath's) state of health. We had been trying through all means to release him."

Dutta was handed over by Maoists to mediapersons and some lawyers, Chakraborty said.

There were a lot of twists and turns on Thursday leading up to Dutta's release, as the Maoists first threatened to kill him when a contingent of joint forces opened fire at the Leftwing rebels near Lakhanpur village in the morning.

The troopers were pulled back after Kishanjee threatened to kill Dutta and demanded a 48-hour ceasefire.

Around noon, the West Midnapore district court released the 14 tribal women, who were earlier arrested by the police for allegedly having links with the Maoist ultras in the troubled Lalgarh region.

The Maoist leader Kishanjee had insisted that the arrested Maoist women activists who had children at home or who were pregnant must be released first -- the main condition for the release of the kidnapped Dutta.

Dutta was kidnapped Tuesday, when around 50 Maoists riding motorcycles took him at gunpoint from his house to the Sankrail police station.

The Maoists then shot dead sub-inspector Dibakar Bhattacharya and assistant sub-inspector Swapan Roy and looted 19 firearms from the police station before whisking away Dutta to their hideout on a motorcycle.