New Delhi: The fate of Collector Alex Paul Menon hangs in balance. The government has appealed to the Maoists for an extension of their deadline. One of the handpicked interlocutors - BD Sharma - will be reaching Bastar on Thursday to begin talks with the Maoist. The Maoists have demanded the release of eight jailed leaders, including two women. The Maoist also want a halt to Operation Greenhunt and removal...
07:21 AM, Apr 26, 2012
New Delhi: Over a month after being in Naxal captivity, Odisha MLA Jhina Hikaka is all set to be released on Thursday. The decision to release Hikaka was taken at the people's court on Wednesday after he gave an undertaking that he will resign from the state assembly and also try and get the Naxals' demands fulfilled. Hikaka was abducted from Koraput district on March 24. In exchange Naxals made...
06:24 AM, Apr 26, 2012
New Delhi: Former IAS and social activist BD Sharma, who has been named as one of the interlocutors by the Maoists to negotiate in the abduction case of IAS officer and Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon, asked the government on Wednesday to stop all anti-Maoist operations. Sharma said that the Maoists have asked him to convey to the government to stop Operation Greenhunt and combing operations and direct the...
04:57 PM, Apr 25, 2012
Bhopal: Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary Nirmala Buch, who has been named as one of the two mediators to hold talks with Maoists to secure the release of abducted Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon, said in Bhopal on Wednesday that she was optimistic about her mission. "I am by nature a very optimistic person and I am very hopeful that I would be able to work out something with...
04:18 PM, Apr 25, 2012
In the jungles of Salboni in West Bengal, the Maoists blatantly violate the law in the name of delivering justice. ...
02:37 PM, Apr 25, 2012
The Chhattisgarh government on Tuesday rushed medicines for abducted collector Alex Paul Thomas. ...
02:26 PM, Apr 25, 2012
Bhubaneswar: The Naxals in Odisha have decided to release Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Jhina Hikaka at the Balipeta village in Koraput at 10 am on Thursday. However, the MLA has been asked to resign after he is released from the captivity of the Naxals. The decision was taken at a people's court by the Naxals, following which Nihar Patnaik, the lawyer of the abducted MLA, was informed. It has...
10:04 AM, Apr 25, 2012
Raipur/Bhubaneswar: The Chattisgarh government has made it clear to the Naxals that the April 25 deadline set by them cannot be met even as the health of abducted district collector Alex Paul Menon's health has worsened due to lack of medication. This comes after the Chhattisgarh government finally named the mediators to negotiate the release of the Sukma district collector. The government named two former chief secretaries of Madhya Pradesh...
07:29 AM, Apr 25, 2012
There is no consensus yet on mediators after the government named two former bureaucrats. ...
10:12 PM, Apr 24, 2012
Lalgarh: On her first visit to this former Naxal hotbed as chief minister, Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday decried the Maoists' cult of violence and killing but did not offer talks with them. Addressing a rally in Lalgarh, she also criticised a section of intellectuals in Kolkata for indulging Maoists. "They do not believe in democracy. They do not want peace. They believe in the barrel of the gun. They indulge...
09:30 PM, Apr 24, 2012
New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: A day after the Naxals named three mediators to secure the safe release of abducted Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon, two of them " eminent lawyer Prashant Bhushan and Adivasi Mahasabha president Manish Kunjam " refused to get involved. Bhushan on Tuesday morning ruled out being a part of the mediation, saying kidnapping a civilian officer and negotiating on that basis was wrong. He said, "I'm not going...
11:43 AM, Apr 24, 2012
New Delhi: Naxals holding collector of Sukma district, Alex Paul Menon, in Chhattisgarh, on Tuesday named three mediator for safe release of the collector. Naxals named Prashant Bhushan, BD Sharma and Manish Kunjam as mediators for the talks. In a statement, the Naxals also termed Menon's health as critical and asked the mediators to bring medicines along with them. Sources have told CNN-IBN that anti-Naxal operations in the Bastar district...
06:10 AM, Apr 24, 2012
Sukma: All focus is on the health of the abducted collector of Sukma district, Alex Paul Menon, in Chhattisgarh. Sources have told CNN-IBN that anti-Naxal operations in the Bastar district of the state have been suspended. April 25 is the deadline set by the Naxals for the government to meet their demands. Sources say unmanned aerial vehicles have given the police vital clues about the collector's whereabouts. According to government...
11:51 PM, Apr 23, 2012
Abducted IAS officer's wife Asha said the Maoists must share details about Alex Paul Menon's health. ...
11:40 PM, Apr 23, 2012
The Naxal insurgents on Saturday abducted the Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon from Majhipara village in Chhattisgarh. ...
09:07 PM, Apr 23, 2012
New Delhi: Human Rights activist Dr Binayak Sen has appealed for the release of the Chhattisgarh District Collector. In a letter, he said, "I earnestly appeal to the CPI (Maoist) that the abducted collector of Sukma Shri Alex Menon be released unconditionally as soon as possible, and that he should be maintained unharmed until his release; and all medical facilities be extended to him." Binayak Sen also called for demilitarization...
06:47 PM, Apr 23, 2012
New Delhi: All anti-Naxal operations in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh have been suspended as demanded by the rebels who have abducted IAS officer and Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon. Sources told CNN-IBN that police have got the clues about the whereabouts of Menon and he is being guarded by nearly 500 Naxals deep inside the jungles. Kadri Satyanarayan Reddy and Ramanna of Communist Party of India (Maoist) Dandakaranya...
02:49 PM, Apr 23, 2012
Patna: Satellite phones will be installed at 85 places in Maoist and flood-affected districts of Bihar for better communications in times of emergency. Making the announcement on Monday, an official in the state general administration department said that satellite phones were an important tool to remain connected in times of natural and man-made crisis. Ashok Kumar, an official of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), said that satellite phones would be...
01:10 PM, Apr 23, 2012
New Delhi: Faced with a hostage crisis in two Naxal-affected states, the Centre is planning a new unified policy to deal with such situations. The Union Home Ministry will write to the Chief Secretaries of nine Naxal affected states soon to finalise a plan to deal with hostage crisis. Naxals are holding two states, Odisha and Chhattisgarh, at gunpoint after abducting a sitting MLA and an IAS officer. The hostage...
11:59 AM, Apr 23, 2012
Raipur/Bhubaneswar: The Maoists have held two states " Chhattisgarh and Odisha " at gunpoint. Even as there has been no new word on abducted Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Jhina Hikaka in Odisha, the Maoists have in Chhattisgarh abducted IAS officer Alex Paul. The Maoists in Chhattisgarh have demanded the release of eight of their cadres arrested by the police and an end to the Operation Greenhunt for the release of...
08:05 AM, Apr 23, 2012
