M A I N   N E W S

Polaris chief, colleague released
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 20
Ending a week-long incarceration, the CEO of Chennai-based Polaris Software, Mr Arun Jain, and his colleague Rajiv Malhotra were released today from a Jakarta detention centre following hectic diplomatic parleys between India and Indonesia.

Mr Jain and Mr Malhotra were detained in Jakarta on December 13 on charges of breach of contract with a local Indonesian bank.

However, the Ministry of External Affairs here said the Indonesian authorities had not yet handed over the passports of Mr Jain and Mr Malhotra, who were currently putting up at the Indian Embassy in Jakarta.

MCC ultras gun down 18 cops

Ranchi, December 20
Striking in a big way, Maoist rebels ambushed a police convoy and shot dead 18 policemen and seriously wounded 20 others in the dense Saranda forest at Bitkilsoya in West Singhbhum district, bordering Orissa.

About 70 heavily armed ultras belonging to the MCC also looted arms and ammunition before setting ablaze 11 vehicles in the convoy.

The Naxalites attacked the police party yesterday when it was carrying the body of a village headman killed by the ultras, Jharkhand Home Secretary Sushma Singh said today. She denied that several policemen were still being held hostage. PTI, UNI