Maoists release nine hostages in Jharkhand - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Maoist rebels released nine hostages in Jharkhand's Latehar district on the pretext of reaching their demands to the Government. Maoists released the nine hostages, who were abducted from Menaka police station area on Saturday morning unharmed. "A team had gone to investigate the complaint received with respect to various government programmes. Unfortunately in the villages where the team went was a local representative of the Maoists there," said Palamu Deputy Inspector General ( DIG ) Prashant Singh . "It's a team of Rajdev Yadav , which operates in that area, yes they are Maoists," he added. Maoists had on Saturday morning abducted nine people including seven government officials, but later released them after three hours due to the pressure imposed on them by the local police. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had on February 12 defended the use of force against Maoists, saying it was a legitimate right of the Government to establish law and order, build infrastructure and set up welfare measures. He expressed confidence that the Centre would be able to get rid of the Maoist menace over the next four years; thereby assuring that once the areas are cleared of Maoist elements, development work can be pursued expeditiously. Referring to the reported offer of talks made by the Maoists through the media recently, Chidambaram said, "Why aren't the Maoists making a simple statement that we abjure violence?" The Maoist rebels are apparently waiting for a respite from a security force's operation against them.