Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday lauded the interlocutors whose efforts led Naxalites to free abducted CRPF trooper Rakeshwar Singh Manhas.
He felicitated Padma Shri Dharmpal Saini, Jairudra Kare, Tailam Bauraiya, Sukhmati Hapka and journalists Ganesh Mishra and Mukesh Chandrakar besides the trooper himself, a press release said.
“The team of interlocutors in this time of crisis managed to free the abducted jawan in a very smooth way,” Baghel said, adding he had promised Manhas’ mother that her son would be freed from Maoist custody.
The interlocutors will go with the trooper to Jammu, he said.
Saini is founder of Mata Rukhmini Ashram which works with tribal children providing them education and training in sports. Kare is also associated with the Ashram. Bauraiya and Hapka are tribal leaders.
Rajeshwar, a commando of CRPF’s elite force CoBRA (Combined Battalion for Resolute Action), was abducted by Maoists on April 3 after an ambush in Bijapur district that left 22 troopers dead. He was freed on April 8.
