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Expressing relief over the release of the abducted policemen by the Maoists, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said such incidents could recur in the state where elections are due later this year and demanded that all polling booths should be manned by Central forces.
"I won't say this was the last incident. There is no guarantee that such incidents will not happen again. I request the Centre and the Election Commission to ensure that central forces are deployed in all polling booths," Kumar said.
Addressing a press conference hours after the three policemen were released, Kumar said helicopters should also be deployed for aerial surveillance and the state government would bear the expenses for that.
The Chief Minister said he was 'relieved' that the policemen -- Abhay Prasad Yadav, Rupesh Kumar Sinha and Ehshan Khan, who were taken hostage on August 29, were freed but 'regretted' that the fourth policeman, Lucas Tete, was killed.
He said that he was also disappointed that the Maoists rejected the government's offer for unconditional talks.
"Public pressure and an appeal after the all-party meeting influenced the freeing of the policemen," Kumar said, thanking political parties and intellectuals who pressurised Naxals to release the kidnapped cops.
He also appealed to the Maoists to shun violence and join the mainstream. "The thinking that through violence, you can achieve your goals is wrong. Come to the mainstream. The elections are coming. Be in the midst of people," he said adding that Maoists should face people in the elections.
Maoists on Monday unconditionally released the three abducted Bihar policemen in Lakhisarai district, bringing an end to the nine-day-old hostage crisis.
Sub-inspectors Abhay Prasad Yadav and Rupesh Kumar Sinha, and Bihar Military Police haviladar Ehshan Khan were set free near Simra Rari, 165 km from Patna, on the border of Chanan- Kajra forests and hills in Lakhisarai district on Monday morning, the same spot where the bullet-ridden body of the fourth hostage, BMP ASI Lucas Tete, was found on Friday morning.