Ranchi: Maoists have beheaded Jharkhand Police officer Francis Induwar, who they had abducted a week ago to force the release of three rebel leaders.
Induwar, who worked as an intelligence official in the Special Branch, was found dead on the Ranchi-Jamshedpur highway on Tuesday morning. The Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) left a pamphlet claiming it had killed the officer, a police official said. "Francis has been awarded death to protest the police repression," said a pamphlet left near Induwar’s body.
“He (Induwar) has been beheaded. His body and head were recovered near Raisha Ghati under Namkom Police station on Tuesday, about 12 km from Ranchi," said Superintendent of Police (Rural) Hemmant Toppo.
Induwar was abducted on September 30 from Hembrom Bazaar in Khunti district, about 70 km from Ranchi.
Samarj, who claimed to be the CPI-Maoist’s South Chhotanagpur Committee secretary, on Saturday called a local newspaper and said Induwar would be released if the police free rebel leaders Gopal Ghandy, Chhatradhar Mahato and Chandra Bhusan Yadav.
The police were engaged in intensive combing operation ever since the inspector's abduction. "The act was perpetrated out of sheer frustration following the arrest of several Maoists, including their central leaders," said Praveen Kumar, Ranchi Superintendent of Police.
The SSP denied the police had received any call from the Maoists to release their comrades in exchange for Induwar. "We have not received any communication whatsoever from them (Maoists)."
Ghandy was arrested on September 21 and Chhatradhar Mahato was caught by Bengal CID officers on September 26 at Lalgarh in West Bengal.
Yadav, also arrested by the Bengal police on October 2, has since been handed over to Jharkhand police. The arrests have given the police a chance to unearth the Maoist network in the country, said a senior police officer.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram condemned the police officer's murder and promised the government would help his family.
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