M A I N   N E W S

Tension mounts as Naxals kill cop
Nitish calls all-party meet today
Sanjay Singh
Tribune News Service

Hostage Crisis

n A hand-written note was recovered along with Tete’s body which said that the Havildar was killed due to the state government’s inaction on their demand to free their men. n The note also threatened to eliminate the remaining three cops under their captivity if their demand was not conceded. n The state government held an emergency meeting at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s residence to review the situation and plan their fresh strategy. n Addl DGP says that the incarcerated naxals whose freedom was being demanded in exchange of the abducted cops were under judicial custody and the state administration (Executive) had no authority to release them.

'Maoists aiming to demolish morale of forces' "It is a disturbing trend. It is a move to demolish the morale of the forces," a senior home ministry official told IANS, adding that "the home ministry is ready to extend any help to the Bihar government in tackling the hostage crisis," the official added. — IANS

Patna, September 3
The ongoing hostage crisis in Bihar’s Lakhisarai district took a bloody turn on Friday as the Naxals killed one of the four policemen under their captivity for the last five days.

The bullet-ridden body of Lukas Tete , a Havildar of Bihar Military Police, was recovered this morning after the expiry of 10 am deadline given by the Maoists for releasing eight of their comrades locked in different jails of the state. The Director-General of Police Neelmani confirmed that the body recovered near Simra Tari Dam under Kajra Police station of Lakhisarai was of Tete, one of the four cops abducted by the naxals.

A hand-written note was also recovered along with Tete’s body which said that the Havildar was killed due to the state government’s inaction on their demand to free their men. The note also threatened to eliminate the remaining three cops under their captivity if their demand was not conceded. However, they have not given any fresh deadline for the same. Notably, the self-proclaimed spokesman of the naxal outfit, CPI(Maoist) which has held the cops as hostage had told mediapersons on Thursday that they had killed the abducted Sub-Inspector Abhay Yadav. But the body recovered today was of Havildar Tete.

Following the recovery of Tete’s body the state government held an emergency meeting at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s residence to review the situation and plan their fresh strategy. Apparently, the naxals did not pay any heed to the Chief Minister’s offer for talks. Nitish Kumar had made an appeal to the naxals to reciprocate the Bihar government’s attitude and approach towards them. After the fresh crisis, Nitish Kumar has called an all-party meeting on Saturday to discuss the situation and reach a consensus opinion to deal with it.

Meanwhile, the Centre has provided an additional chopper to the state government along with more reinforcements from the specially trained CRPF. The spokesman of Bihar Police, P.K. Thakur, Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) made it clear that the incarcerated naxals whose freedom was being demanded in exchange of the abducted cops were under judicial custody and the state administration (Executive) had no authority to release them. Only the courts can decide on their bail, Thakur said. At the same time, Thakur also asserted to launch a more intensive combing operation against the Naxals whom he charged with cowardice act to kill an innocent and unarmed policeman.

Different political parties and social organisations have also condemned the killing of Tete. RJD Chief Lalu Yadav and LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan made an appeal to the naxal outfit not to harm the police men under their captivity.

The body of Tete was sent to his native village under Gumla district (Jharkhand).