Police hostage: As deadline ends, govt passes buck

New Delhi, Sep 1: While the kin of the abducted Bihar policemen pleaded and prayed for their release, the authorities were passing the buck even as the deadline came to its near end.

The red rebels abducted four Bihar policemen on Sunday, Aug 29 in the state's hilly Lakhisarai district after engaging in a fierce gunbattle with security forces.

Maoists threatened to execute the abducted personnel if eight rebels were not released in exchange of their lives. In their ultimatum, they also demanded the halt of all combing operations in the district by 4:00 PM on Wednesday, Sep 1.

With just hours to go for the deadline to end, Home Minister, P Chidambaram said it is for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to take a call on the hostage situation.

Addressing a press conference here in the afternoon, Chidambaram said, "This is for the state Chief Minister to take a call on. Nitish Kumar should do something. He is the man on the ground, he has all the facts. We will support him in whatever decision he takes. But he has not approached us."

The families of the four abducted policemen are in dire straits. They have approached the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seeking safe release of the police personnel.

"We have requested the chief minister to release Maoists to ensure safe release of my son," Manju Sinha, the mother of Rupesh Kumar Sinha, one of the four abducted policemen, told Zee News.

OneIndia News