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Abducted officer safe, say Maoists; govt to act with due prudence

Maoists today said abducted police officer Atindranath Dutta was safe but being treated as a 'prisoner of war' and will soon be produced before the media.

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Maoists today said abducted police officer Atindranath Dutta was safe but being treated as a 'prisoner of war' and will soon be produced before the media even as the West Bengal government said it would act with 'due prudence' in securing his release.

"Our priority is to ensure the release of the abducted officer-in-charge safely and arrest those who killed the two other policemen at the police station. The government is acting with due prudence," chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakraborty told reporters.

Maoists yesterday raided the Sankrail police station in West Midnapore district, shot dead two police officers and kidnapped Dutta besides looting a nearby bank.

"We have 100% sympathy for the family of the police officer and we are acting on it accordingly," Chakraborty said quoting chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee who met Dutta's wife, Indrani, and other family members at the state secretariat today.

The chief minister, who holds the home portfolio, also decided that full salary and other benefits of police officers killed in action be paid till the date of retirement, for which an official order would be issued shortly, Chakraborty said. The chief minister had held an emergency meeting with senior officials to discuss the government's action.

Meanwhile, Dutta's brother-in-law, Sanjiv Dutta, after meeting Bhattacharjee told reporters "we have apprised the chief minister of Kishenji's demands".

Kishenji had yesterday made a phone call to Indrani asking her to meet the chief minister and place his demand that women arrested by the joint forces during anti-Maoist operations in West Midnapore district should be released immediately.

"I have listened to you carefully and I have everything in mind. The government will act to get the officer released and his safety and security will be properly considered," Sanjiv said quoting Bhattacharjee.

"We are satisfied with the assurance given by the chief minister," he added.

Dutta was taken hostage by Maoists who killed two other police officers — second officer Dibakar Bhattacharya and assistant sub-inspector Swapan Roy.

Bairagi Charan Nayek, manager of the SBI branch that was attacked yesterday, had told PTI that "five masked men led by a woman entered the bank at around 1.30pm and fired three rounds. They pointed guns at the security guard and the accountant."

"The woman was young, hardly 25 years old, and had pistols in both hands. She pointed the pistols at me and demanded the keys to the vault. They then took the money and fled," Nayek said. Meanwhile, Kishenji said Dutta was a 'prisoner of war'. "He is well and healthy. He is with us. We are treating him with respect," Kishenji told a Bengali news channel here.

"I want to know the government's reaction to our demand. He cannot be released now, we want the women released in  exchange," he said, alleging that the women were picked up from Lalgarh and other areas and falsely implicated.

He said that a member of the abducted officer's family would be allowed to meet him and stay with him.

CPI-M state secretary Biman Bose said the state government should take the initiative to release the police officer.

"Maoists have declared the police officer as a prisoner of war. This has not taken place in the state in the past. The state government should take steps to secure his release on a priority basis," he said.

Referring to the abduction of two other policemen — Sabir Mollah and Kanchan Garai — a few months ago, he said the government must also secure their release.

Bose alleged that the Maoists and Trinamool Congress were in cahoots and resorting to individual killing and creating terror with mutual understanding.

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