Sukma collector Menon freed
Source: The Sangai Express / Agencies
Raipur, May 03 2012:
Released collector Alex Paul Menon finally reached Chintalnar on Thursday.
After coming out from captivity, the collector said that he was fine and ready to work wherever the government posted him.
He also thanked the mediators, Chhattisgarh CM and his family.
The Maoist rebels in Chhattisgarh released the abducted Sukma district collector after holding him hostage for nearly two weeks, police said.
The Naxals kidnapped Menon last week, shooting his bodyguards dead as he toured a village in Sukma district.
Earlier on the day, BD Sharma and Professor G Hargopal, who represented the Maoists in the talks with the Chhattisgarh government for the 32-year-old IAS officer's release, left for Tadmetla to receive Menon, who was kidnapped on April 21 .
The state government had made all arrangements to bring out Menon safely from the jungles following which the officer will undergo a medical examination as he is an asthmatic, he said.
Health officials in Sukma, Dantewada, Jagdalpur as well as Raipur districts have been asked to be ready for the check up.
Also, an ambulance has been stationed at Chintalnar to meet any possible emergency, Kumar said.
The breakthrough to ensure the safe return of Menon came in the form of an agreement between the two mediators each of the Chhattisgarh government and the Maoists at their fourth round of talks on April 30 .
Under the agreement, the government had agreed to set up a high-powered committee under the chairmanship of Nirmala Buch, one of the two government mediators, to review the cases of all prisoners languishing in Chattisgarh jails including the cases demanded by the Maoists.
Before the agreement was announced, the Maoists had set a deadline of May 2 for Chhattisgarh government to release eight of their jailed associates.
Later, a message from the Maoists said they would release Menon today.