Team News Riveting
Raipur, November 17
Seven days after being kidnapped by the Maoists, sub-engineer Ajay Roshan Lakra was finally released by the rebels on Wednesday.
He was expediting Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) in Chhattisgarh’s restive Bijapur district when Maoists abducted him along with peon Lakshman Partagiri on November 11. While the peon was released, the rebels kept the engineer hostage and had reportedly put demands for his release.
Meanwhile, Lakra’s wife Arpita appealed to the Maoists to free him without harming. She was joined by media persons and activists of the civil societies.
Arpita along with others has been trekking forested pockets to meet the Maoists since Ajay went missing. The efforts however yielded the results and the engineer was released on Wednesday after the rebels organised a Kangaroo court where the decision was taken.
The Maoists took the engineer hostage as a token to lodge their protest against the central road development projects going on in the red zone.
Lakra was handed over to his wife and the couple would be reaching the district headquarters where the officials would record the engineer’s statement.
