Ranchi:
A post-mortem on the headless body of Special Branch police officer Francis Induwar, who was abducted and brutally killed by Naxals in Jharkhand, says that he was beheaded 12 hours before the body was found.
Induwar will be cremated on Wednesday. He was abducted on September 30 and his body was found on the Ranchi-Jamshedpur Highway on Tuesday morning. His head had been severed from his body.
The Naxals had left a note by the body, attributing his death to 'police repression'.
Induwar was abducted last week when he was meeting a source in a market in Jharkhand's Khunti district. Local newspapers reported that his Naxal captors had said they would free Induwar if the government released their leaders Kobad Ghandy, Chattradhar Mahato, and Chandra Bhushan Yadav, all arrested recently.
The government, said the reports, had rejected this proposed swap on Sunday. The Home Ministry has, however, said no such offer was received and also clarified that Induwar's murder was not related to Ghandy, Mahato and Yadav.
Among Induwar's colleagues, there's mourning mixed with anger. "We are ready to do our duty, but we need protection . In this atmosphere, how can we carry on working?" asks Ramsarekh Singh, Head, Jharkhand Police Association. The association is holding a meeting on Wednesday. The state Director General of Police has also called for a review meeting.
Francis Induwar is survived by three children and his wife. While he was being held hostage, his wife, Sunita, had emphasised, "He is a junior officer. His release should not be at the cost of the release of three top Naxal leaders."
The government has said Induwar's Taliban-style execution will not affect their operations against the Maoists. Home Minister P Chidambaram says, "No government in India can accept an armed liberation struggle. We are implacably opposed to each other.''
The biggest irony: the police force in the Red Corridor of Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and Andhra is often drawn from the very tribal settlements the Naxals claim to protect.