Bijapur (Chhattisgarh): A policeman, who was abducted allegedly by the Naxals in Bijapur area of Chattisgarh's south Bastar has been released on Wednesday.
The abducted policeman has been identified as Santosh Kattam, who was working as an electrician in the police department at Bhopalpatnam village.
According to sources, Kattam was kidnaped by Naxalites on May 4 but the incident was unknown to the police department for a couple of days.
Kattam's wife Sunita contacted the police and the people in the nearby villages seeking help but in vain. Finally, she contacted the Bijapur based journalists and the team of journalists with the help of the villagers sent a message to the Naxalites' intermediary, sources said.
The rebels admitted that Kattam was in their captivity and hold public court (Jan-Adalat) in their area to take the decision of Kattam's release. The victim's wife and daughter were also invited to that court. Santosh was presented in the public court in the presence of 1500 villagers.
In that Jan Adalat, the rebels were convinced that Kattam works as an electrician in the police force and he can never be a part of combat operations against the rebels. Finally, on the basis of majority views elicited from villagers in the Adalat, the Maoists released Kattam, sources said.
"The blindfold that was tied for 6 days is now open. I had lost hope after remaining in Maoists’ captivity for a week. During these seven days, I was neither assaulted nor ill-treated by the Maoists. Now I will leave the police job. This is for the first time the Rebels had set free police personnel from a Jan Adalat something very rare," Kattam said.
"The banned Red brigade declared that they were setting him free on humanitarian ground. The government, which was least concerned about the abducted cop, shouldn’t think his release as their victory. They set him free owing to the intervention of the media person, the appeal by the family, and the opinion of the villagers. If any jawan wants to come back and live in the village, the Red brigade organization will welcome them," said Dinesh Modiam, Naxalite president of the Gangalur area.
The cop's wife and her daughter, who reached the court here, thanked the Maoists for releasing Santosh Kattam, sources added.
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