Binayak Sen urges Maoists to release abducted collector

Human rights activist and vice-president of the national executive of People's Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) Binayak Sen on Monday appealed to the CPI(Maoist) to unconditionally release abducted Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon as soon as possible.

In a release available here, Sen, who worked in the tribal belt of Chhattisgarh for a long time, said that the abducted district collector should be maintained unharmed ''until his release and all medical facilities be extended to him''.

Sen expressed his sorrow at the killing of Menon's two security guards by the Maoists.

He said that PUCL had repeatedly asserted that no resolution of the issues in the region can possibly be arrived at.

''The way forward for the restoration of peace and the well-being of the people of in the area will only be possible through cessation of armed conflict and the withdrawal of militarization'', he said.

The rights activist said that restoration of dialogue and the legitimacy of dissent are essential ''and my appeal is for this to be effected as early as possible''.