Patna:
At 5 pm, Naxals in Bihar called local TV channels to declare that one of the four policemen they had kidnapped near Patna had been killed. Soon, sources in the Intelligence Bureau in Delhi confirmed the news. The Naxals didn't reveal how they'd murdered Sub Inspector Abhay Prasad Yadav. He was in his 30s.
The Naxals warned there could be more to come. The three policemen still with them, they said, would be safe only till 10 am on Friday, unless eight Naxal leaders are released from jail.
On Sunday, Yadav was among 40 policemen who were outpowered by more than 200 Naxals in Bihar's Lakhisari district, 150 kilometres east of Patna. Seven cops were killed. The Naxals left the battle with Abhay Prasad Yadav, Mohammad Ehsaan, Rupesh Kumar Sinha and Lokus Tete.
The sub-inspector is survived by his father, four children, and his wife who was taken to hospital on Thursday after pleading with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in person to help rescue her husband.
On Thursday evening, at a public event, Kumar said he was open to talks with the Naxals. But some reports suggest that before Yadav's death was announced, Bihar officials were in the midst of negotiations with the insurgents. The state police chief denied this. "By taking people hostage, I don't know what example the Naxals are trying to set," Kumar said. The centre has backed him, with the Home Ministry stating, "We are with the Bihar government. We fully support what they are doing."
The Chief Minister's tightrope skills will be severely tested now. A few months earlier, he said, "Naxal elements are a part of our society even though they have been misled onto the path of violence."