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Congress leader Renuka Chaudhary on Tuesday criticised Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan for refusing to mediate for the release of Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon. "He (Bhushan) is such a hopeless and useless man. This is a man who doesn't speak with a sense of responsibility. He should understand what those families are going through whose members are trapped with the Maoists," Chaudhary told media outside parliament. "I request you (media) to not spread what he says," she added. Earlier, Bhushan said: "No, I cannot mediate in this situation, because in my view, kidnapping a civilian officer and holding him as a hostage and then negotiating is not correct. So, I believe that the Maoists must release this officer unconditionally." "Some of the demands of the ultras were legitimate and thus, the government must look into the matter and take adequate measures to address their problems," he added. Apart from Bhushan, Maoists have named two mediators: former National SC/ST Commission chairperson B D Sharma and the president of the All India Adivasi Mahasabha Manish Kunjam. The Naxals have demanded the release of their eight colleagues: Markam Gopanna alias Satyam Reddy, Nirmal Akka alias Vijay Laxmi, Devpal Chandrashekhar Reddy, Shantipriya Reddy, Meena Choudhari, Korsa Sunny, Markam Sunny and Asit Kumar Sen. The ultras also want anti-Naxal Operation Green Hunt to be cancelled, security forces to be withdrawn from the region and persons against whom they allege "fake cases" have been registered, released from the jails. In an audacious operation, Maoist rebels on Saturday abducted Menon, an IAS officer of 2006 batch, from the middle of a meeting with villagers from Majhipara village in Keralapal area of the Naxal-infected district.

Collector's abduction: Renuka Chaudhary slams Prashant Bhushan