Rakeshwar Singh Manhas, a resident of Jammu, spent over 100 hours in captivity.
Bhopal/New Delhi:
A commando kidnapped by Maoist rebels after a deadly encounter in Chhattisgarh on Saturday, in which 22 soldiers were killed and 31 injured, has been released after more than 100 hours in captivity, the state government said on Thursday.
Rakeshwar Singh Manhas of the 210th Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) division was taken hostage by the Maoists following the gun battle that lasted almost three hours in a rebel stronghold in the Bijapur district.
He was freed in the presence of hundreds of villagers on Thursday after a team of two eminent people, including a person from the tribal community, was nominated by the state government to secure his release, officials said.
Padma Shri Dharmapal Saini, a 91-year-old freedom fighter and activist who has worked extensively for the education of girls from the region, Gondwana Samaj president Telam Boraiya, seven journalists and two officials of the Chhattisgarh government were part of the team that went to receive Mr Manhas.
First visuals Abducted #CoBRA Jawan #RakeshwarSinghManhas who has just been released by #Maoists Manhas was in captivity since Saturday after #NaxalAttack@ndtv@ndtvindia@manishndtv@hridayeshjoshi@vinodkapri@GargiRawat@alok_pandeypic.twitter.com/w74IFqvdEK
— Anurag Dwary (@Anurag_Dwary) April 8, 2021
The jawan, who is from Jammu, is being brought to the Tarrem camp of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) located in Bijapur, a senior officer of the paramilitary said.
“Today is the happiest day of my life. I always remained hopeful of his return,” Meenu, wife of Mr Manhas, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. She and her daughter had released an emotional appeal for his release on video.
In the deadliest ambush of its kind in four years, some 2,000 security personnel were on the hunt for a Maoist rebel leader in Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh state on Saturday when some of them were attacked.
The rebels looted weapons, ammunition, uniforms and shoes from the security forces who were killed.
Rakeshwar Singh Manhas (centre) with the government-appointed team that mediated his release.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that the “sacrifices of the brave martyrs will never be forgotten”, while Home Minister Amit Shah wrote on Twitter that India would “continue our fight against these enemies of peace & progress”.
The encounter was the worst for Indian security forces battling the far-left guerillas since 2017, when 25 police commandos were killed in an attack.
Seventeen police from a commando patrol were killed in an attack by more than 300 armed rebels in Chhattisgarh in March last year.
Sixteen commandos were also killed in the western state of Maharashtra in the lead-up to India’s election in 2019, in a bomb attack that was blamed on the Maoists.
The Maoists – who say they are fighting for rural people and the poor – have battled government forces across eastern India since the 1960s.
Thousands have been killed in the fighting.