The phone number given by Maoists to the media asking Union Home Minster P Chidambaram to call today for peace negotiations belongs to a police constable who was abducted by the rebels.
The Vodafone number 9734695789 belongs to Sisir Kanti Nag, the constable who was abducted by the
Maoists demanding the release of the PCPA leader Chatradhar Mahato.
"The Vodafone SIM card was purchased from Kharagpur and it belongs to Nag. But right now it is impossible to say from which dealer it was purchased," a senior district police officer said on condition of anonymity.
"We are questioning the concerned constable and trying to find out the details," he said.
Nag's cell number in all probability is being used by Koteswar Rao, popularly known as Kishenji, and is the number on which Chidambaram has been asked to call at 5 p m, the officer said.
Nag and his colleague Siteshwar Prasad were abducted by the Maoists from a bus at Tamajhuri in West Midnapore on September 26 demanding the release of Mahato. Nag was released later that night at Jamtalghera, about 50 km away from Tamajhuri.