Kolkata, Oct 21 (IANS) The West Bengal government Wednesday said it was ready to hold negotiations with the Maoists if they gave specific proposals as pre-conditions for releasing police officer Atindranath Dutta abducted Tuesday.
“If there are specific proposals, the government is ready to negotiate,” state Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty told mediapersons at the state secretariat Writers’ Buildings here.

However, he made it clear that it was not possible for the government to accept every demand of the Leftist radicals “in the larger interest”.

“Whatever demands we can meet, we will. And whatever steps are needed to get him (Dutta) freed, we will take,” Chakraborty said.

In a daring strike Tuesday, around 50 Left-wing rebels riding motorcycles abducted the Sankrail police station officer-in-charge Dutta at gunpoint from his house and brought him to the police station.

Then the Maoists shot dead sub-inspector Dibakar Bhattacharya and assistant sub-inspector Swapan Roy and looted 19 firearms from the police station before whisking away Dutta away to their hideout on a motorcycle.

Describing Dutta as a “prisoner of war”, CPI-Maoist top leader Kishanjee Tuesday sought the release of arrested CPI-Maoist women members in the 40-60 age group and those who have children at home as the main condition for setting the police officer free.