Cop released by Naxals violated rules by speaking to media

Police officer Atindranath Dutta, kidnapped by Maoists on October 20 in West Midnapore and subsequently released unharmed, violated service conduct rules by speaking to media about the whole episode, a senior West Bengal police officer said today.

"He has violated the conduct rules by speaking to media and divulging every detail of the case," inspector general of police (Western Range) Kuldeep Singh said, shortly after Dutta was questioned by the CID here for the second consecutive day.

"We are probing about any possible role of Dutta and other police personnel of the Sankrail police station in the attack by Maoists. If some anomalies are found, action will be taken," Singh said.

"The superintendent of police has served him notice to join duty immediately. He was released on October 22 and we gave him three days to recoup. We found him hale and hearty during his appearance on television after his release," Singh said.

A senior CID officer said, "There were some inconsistencies in his statement and so we questioned him again."

Another senior police officer said, "he has become an embarrassment by shaking hands with Maoists".

He pointed out that Dutta had not reacted to gunning down of his two colleagues—second officer Dibakar Bhattacharya and sub-inspector Swapan Roy—by Maoists on the day of his abduction.