Hostages alive and safe, claim Maoists

Maoists on Saturday claimed their hostages- three policemen- are alive and safe, even as security forces intensified combing operations around Lakhisarai jungles in Bihar to trace out their colleagues, local media said.
The Maoists’ claim comes a day after the bullet-riddled body of Bihar Military Police (BMP) sub-inspector Lucas Tete was found, shocking the entire country and raisingapprehension about the well-being of three other abducted security men.

An alleged suspect, identified as Pradeep Kumar, involved in the abduction of policemen on Sunday, was arrested from the forested area of Jamui during a search operation early Saturday. But the name given of the suspect varies as the police were yet to establish actual motive of the arrested suspect.
Maoists have claimed that the other three policemen they had abducted were ‘safe’. The ultras also apologised for wrongly saying that they had killed Sub-Inspector Abhay Kumar Yadav. Maoist spokesperson

Avinash told a local Hindi news channel that he was sorry for the wrong information he gave on Thursday about Yadav’s death.

The bullet-riddled body of Tete was recovered on Friday morning in the Simratali forests of Lakhisarai district, about 150 km from state capital Patna.

Avinash claimed the mistake was due to a communication gap between him and his comrades in the hilly, forest area of Lakhisarai.

The spokesperson on Saturday said that the remaining three policemen are safe and well, but he refused a request to allow them to talk to their families.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called an all-party meeting in Patna on Saturday afternoon to discuss the situation arising out of the crisis.
The Maoists have killed seven policemen and looted some 35 rifles from policemen on Sunday in Lakhisarai district.

Official sources said the Centre has dispatched more than 200 additional security personnel and two choppers to Lakhisarai to assist in the anti-Naxal campaign launched in the extremist controlled pockets along the Bihar-Jharkhand border.

Four Bihar policemen – Tete, Yadav, Rupesh Kumar Sinha and Ehsan Khan – were kidnapped by Maoists after a six-hour gunfight in Lakhisarai district on Sunday. The gunbattle left seven policemen dead and 10 injured.

The Maoists have also warned the Bihar government of more attacks if the operations against them did not stop immediately.