By IANS,
New Delhi : Terming the killing of a Jharkhand police officer by Maoists as “cold blooded”, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said Tuesday that no demand was being made for a swap of prisoners.
“The DGP (Director General of Police) has told me that there was no demand for a swap of prisoners. Besides, we are governed by the rule of the law. Prisoners are under the custody of the court, we cannot swap prisoners with those who are outside the law, who take the law into their own hands. There is no question of swap of prisoners,” Chidambaram said.
The decapitated body of Francis Induwar, Jharkhand police officer who was abducted by Maoists and was sought to be swapped for three of their leaders including senior Communist Party of India-Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy, was found on the Ranchi-Jamshedpur highway Tuesday morning.
Induwar, who worked as an intelligence official in the Special Branch, was kidnapped Sep 30.
“If there were any other genuine developmental demands… that could have been considered. But the DGP tells me that no demand was placed upon the government. And all that they found was the mutilated body… they had killed him in cold blood,” Chidambaram told an English news channel Tuesday.
Near the body, a note was found in which the banned CPI-Maoist claimed responsibility. “Francis has been awarded death to protest the police repression,” stated the pamphlet.