Shibu Soren accepts key demand of Maoists

RANCHI/JAMSHEDPUR: Accepting a key demand of Maoists for safe release of an abducted Jharkhand Block Development Officer, Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren tonight said the legal process has begun to free some of the jailed persons who the Naxals claimed to be innocent.

"Maoists have set some conditions to set free Dalbhumgarh BDO Prasant Kumar Layek. Their chief demand is to release innocent villagers now lodged in Dalbhumgarh jail. All the cases are pending in the court. The legal process to release them has already begun," Soren read out from a written statement at a news conference here.

"So, I appeal to them (Maoists) to set free our officer unharmed at the earliest," he said.

Maoists, who kidnapped Layek on Saturday, had earlier in the day demanded a statement from chief minister on their conditions to set the BDO free.

The extremists had yesterday said that they will release Layek if the state government give in writing regarding fulfilment of their demands including unconditional release of 14 of their men arrested by police. The Maoists had alleged that all the 14 were implicated in false cases by police.

In Jamshedpur, Jharkhand police admitted two of the 14 chargesheeted Maoists were innocent and falsely implicated.

Earlier, giving time and space to Maoists to release the BDO, Jharkhand government today put on hold the ongoing search operation, a senior official said here today.

"We have not stopped the search operation but put it on hold today to allow enough space to the Maoists for the safe release of Layek", East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Ravindra Agarwal said.

Zonal IG Rezi Dung Dung told a news conference at Ghatsila that "after interrogating about 10-12 arrested persons in Ghatsila sub-divisional jail today, two persons -- Jasmi Mardi and her father Bahadur Mardi -- were found innocent. They had been falsely implicated by Jasmi's husband Ramrai Hembram, a police constable".

Dung Dung said he had met 10-12 chargesheeted Maoists and about four to five cases, including Mardis', were needed to be re-investigated.

The case of the Mardis was clearly intentional and negligence on the part of police, he said.

After receiving directive from the Home department, the police moved the court praying to allow reinvestigation against Ashwini Murmu, Lusa Baske, Arjun Soren and Sukra Munda.

Earlier, Maoists said "the state government is only wasting time and wanted to release the BDO by continuing the commando operation. The operation will only endanger the life of the BDO".

Rakeshji, the spokesman of Bengal-Jharkhand-Orissa Border Regional Committee of CPI (Maoist) told PTI over telephone that "if the government fulfills the demands, we will release Layek immediately".