Thaindian News

Chintalnar (Chhattisgarh), May 3 (IANS) Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon, who was released by Maoists Thursday after 12 days of captivity, had to wait one more day to be reunited with his pregnant wife Asha, but spoke to her over phone to say “I am fine” and that she should not worry.

Security agencies decided to arrange Menon’s night halt at para-military base camp at Chintalnar because the area is heavily laid with landmines and unsafe for a road journey at night.

“I am fine, don’t worry now, I am well and will join you tomorrow… till then control yourself,” Menon was heard saying over phone to his wife at the base camp of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) located at Chintalnar, which is considered the door step of Maoists’ hideout in Sukma, one of India’s worst leftist insurgency-hit districts.

Chintalnar area is roughly 80 km from Sukma town where Asha Menon is staying. The 32-year-old IAS officer would be able to meet his wife only Friday morning.

Meanwhile, Asha told a few electronic mediapersons at the collector’s bungalow there: “I am relieved, no one can imagine what I am feeling.”

Asked if she supported Menon’s statement that he wants to serve in Sukma again, she said: “I stand by his thought, people in the district need him.”

The 2006 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer was taken hostage at gun point by Maoists April 21 from a forested area while he was interacting with tribals at a government function organised as part of the state government’s rural drive.

The Maoists had killed his two body guards, Amjad Khan and Kishen Kujur, when they resisted his abduction.