RAIPUR: Engineer Ashok Pawar and worker Anand Yadav, who were abducted by Maoists from a bridge construction site in a remote area of Bijapur district last Friday, were released on Tuesday night.
Freedom came a day after Ashok’s wife Sonali Pawar and her two little daughters went into the jungle to meet the Maoists and persuade them to free the duo. They had also issued a video appeal to the Maoists, saying they would all go back to their native place in Madhya Pradesh once Ashok was freed.
Bastar range IG P Sundarraj said both of them had reached Bedre police station on Tuesday night. "Their condition is quite ok. They are healthy. The first priority is to provide them medical assistance and other comfort. Further details will be made available later on," the IG said.
Details of how the duo was freed weren’t immediately known. Sonali and her children erupted with joy when told that Ashok had been freed. In MP, the family of Anand was overwhelmed.
For nearly five days, there was no sign of the duo. There was complete silence from the Maoists amid speculation that the duo may have been taken across the border to Maharashtra.
Sonali Pawar and her two daughters had released a video appeal to the Maoists last Saturday to release him. On Monday, she decided to venture into the forest herself in the hope of meeting the Maoists and persuading them to release Ashok. She has met up with some villagers, say sources.
Once he is released, they will return to their native place in Madhya Pradesh, she says. "My husband is innocent, he was simply doing his job there. If there’s any misunderstanding, please forgive him. We have two little daughters and we are terrified after learning that he has been kidnapped. I request to please release him and we will leave this place forever," she said.
A group of local scribes was also planning to go into the forest and reach out to the Maoists to secure the duo’s release.
Sonali seems to have been inspired by the rescue of government engineer Ajay Roshan Lakra, who was kidnapped by Maoists in Bijapur in November last year. Carrying her three-year-old son in her lap, Ajay’s wife Arpita went into a dense forest to plead with Maoists to free him. She succeeded. After holding him captive for six days, the Maoists let him walk out with his wife.
Ashok and Anand were abducted from a bridge construction site located between Bedre and Nugur villages around noon on Friday. Ashok is a native of Hoshangabad and the labourer is from Umaria in Madhya Pradesh.
"Their family members have also made an appeal. We are hopeful of a positive outcome," IG Sundarraj had said.
Tribal leader Nandkumar Sai had also appealed to the Maoists to release the duo. "If they have complaints with any developments that the government is bringing about, then they should come for talks. Abducting an engineer or labourer will make no point," he said.
