Jamshedpur: The fate of the abducted BDO
of Dalbhumgarh hangs in balance as the deadline set by the
Maoists for unconditional release of people implicated in
"false cases" of being Maoists expired at 6 pm today.
"Neither Prasant Kumar Layek has returned nor we have
any information as yet about him," Dalbhumgarh SDO Prabhat
Kumar Kartik said.
Layek was abducted by the Maoists from his office
chamber at Dalbhumgarh in East Singhbhum district on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, the Jharkhand police said it
would seek the court`s permission to reinvestigate the cases
against the 14 charge-sheeted Maoists if Layek was set free.
Unconditional release of chargesheeted Maoists was not
possible as it involved judicial process, zonal IG Rezi Dung
Dung told a press conference at Ghatsila.
Dung Dung appealed to the Maoists to set Layek free.
Earlier, Rakesh ji, spokesman of the Maoists`
Bengal-Orissa-Jharkhand regional border committee, had said
they would not guarantee Layek’s safety if their demands
were not met within 6 pm today.
Meanwhile, Layek`s wife Julie Bharti threatened to
immolate herself and her four-year-old daughter in front of
Chief Minister Sibu Soren`s residence if any harm was caused
to her husband.
Talking to PTI, Bharti however admitted that the state
government was taking all steps to rescue her husband.
-PTI
