'Killing of hostage will erode credibility of Naxals'

The killing of a policeman taken hostage by Maoists will erode the credibility of the Naxals, but the handling of the situation by the Nitish Kumar government is also questionable, feels social activist Medha Patkar.

"The Centre, state governments and Maoists are equally responsible for the reign of terror all over the country, but by killing one of the hostages mercilessly the Maoists will certainly lose credibility. They should not have resorted to this," Patkar told PTI.

"What has happened in really unfortunate and no right-thinking people will support this," she said.

Noting that Maoists had repeatedly offered talks, she said, "The government has never taken their offer seriously."

She also noted that it was alarming that the lower rung of the police and paramilitary forces had become vulnerable.

"It is alarming that the lower rung police and paramilitary personnel are becoming easy prey for Maoists and the government, both the Centre and the state, are leaving them at the mercy of the ultras," Patkar said.

"Unless there is a dialogue, this kind of violence is going to continue if the government continues to sit back and see the common people suffer," Patkar said.