The Chhattisgarh Police did not release any Maoist in exchange for the freedom of the CRFP trooper who was captured by Naxalites in Bastar region, police said on Friday.
“In certain media/social media reports it is being published that one arrested Maoist cadre have been handed over as an exchange for the safe release of CoBRA jawan Rakeshwar Singh Manhas abducted by Maosits on April 3 in Bijpaur district,” Inspector General of Police (Bastar) Sundarraj P said.
“No arrested Maoist has been released to secure the release of the abducted jawan. So far no one has been arrested in relation to the Tekalgudem encounter case,” he said.
The officer said a few villagers had accompanied the troopers after the encounter till the base camp and the villagers returned to their respective villages.
Sukka Kunjam of Tekalgudem (being mentioned in the media/social media messages) might be one such villager who accompanied the police up to the base camp after the encounter on April 3, he added.
Manhas was released on Thursday at a jungle patch at a crowded ‘jan adalat’. He was in Naxalite custody for five days.
Manhas, a commando of CRPF’s CoBRA (Combined Battalion for Resolute Action), was held hostage by Maoists on April 3 after a deadly Naxalite ambush in Bijapur district that left 22 security personnel dead.
