Barely three hours after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar appealed Naxals to come forward to hold talks instead of harming anyone held hostage, a self-proclaimed Maoist spokesman claimed that the three captive police personnel would be released on Sunday.
Avinash, however, claimed that
the Central Committee of Naxals rejected the proposal for talks made in the evening by Kumar.
He told local mediamen that the committee has decided to release the hostages “unconditionally on humanitariun considerations”.
The Maoists had abducted Sub Inspectors Abhay Yadav and Rupesh Kumar and Bihar Military Police havildar Ehtesham Khan hostage and Assistant Sub-Inspector Lucas Tete after the encounter in Lakhisarai on Sunday.
Tete’s bullet-ridden body was found on Friday after expiry of the deadline swapping them for eight Maoists while the other three policemen remained in captivity.
Talking to reporters, just after convening the all-party meet, Kumar said: “We want face-to-face talks with Naxals. Let Naxals decide who their representative will be.”
"Sub Inspector Abhay Yadav’s wife’s grief has also influenced us and her emotional outbursts that she will ask her sons to take to guns and become Naxalites as also appeals from various quarters and organisations compelled us to reconsider our decision on the hostage issue”, Avinash said.
“But I will like to make it clear that we are not going to hand over the hostages either to police or mediamen... we will send them to their respective families, safe and sound”, he added.
He said Maoists did want to give any credit to the state government over the release of the hostages.