Gadar, poet appeal to PWG for cop release

Efforts to secure the release of SI Prakash Soni, abducted by the PWG, took a fresh turn today with Naxal emissary Gadar and poet Varavara R...

Efforts to secure the release of SI Prakash Soni, abducted by the PWG, took a fresh turn today with Naxal emissary Gadar and poet Varavara Rao sending separate appeals to the outfit.

The Naxals had set a 24-hour deadline ending last night to ‘‘punish’’ Soni. He has been held hostage for nine days. Chhattisgarh DGP O.P. Rathore went on air a few hours before midnight, appealing to the Naxalites to release the SI. Today, the state government was clueless on the SI’s condition even as it hoped for a breakthrough with the intervention of the Andhra Pradesh government.

‘‘So far, there is no news about physical harm to the abducted SI. We are quite hopeful about his safe return once contact is established,’’ Rathore said. He made a fresh offer to hold talks with the Naxalites on their demands which were published in local newspapers. ‘‘The government has always kept its doors open for talks,’’ he said.

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Yesterday, after Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh had a telephonic conversation with his AP counterpart, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, support came from unexpected quarters – ‘‘revolutionary poet’’ Varavara Rao and Gadar. They issued separate appeals to the Naxalites to free Soni on humanitarian grounds.

Gadar reportedly spoke to Dantewara SP Pravir Das and assured help.