Medicines rushed for abducted Menon amid uncertainty over talks

With hours to go for the Maoist deadline the Chhattisgarh government Tuesday named two former chief secretaries to negotiate with the guerrillas after two of the three mediators named by the leftwing extremists refused to join the talks Meanwhile medicines and clothes were rushed to Menon who is being held in a forested hideout in Chintagufa close to National Highway 221 close to the Andhra Pradesh district of Khamam tribal leader Manish Kunjam told IANS Chintagufa is the area where Maoists had massacred 76 security personnel including 75 of the Central Reserve Police Force CRPF on April 6 2010 Medicines for asthma dehydration and eyedrops were collected from Menon39s wife Asha by Kunjam and taken to the forested hideout Abducted district collector Alex Paul Menon According Kunjam Asha Menon requested him to urge the Maoists to send back some quotelectronic evidencequot like a video clip of her husband to indicate his wellbeing The way the medicines are being rushed for Menon shows he has quotserious health problemsquot a source told IANS The medicines were taken in the evening In a blow to talks for Menon39s release Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushant said he could not mediate while the officer was still in Maoist custody and Manish Kunjam also named as mediator cited political reasons to drop out Maoists late Monday named Bhushan former National Scheduled CasteScheduled Tribe Commission chairperson BD Sharma and All India Adivasi Mahasabha president Kunjam as mediators Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has named two officials to mediate on behalf of the government quotFormer chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh Nirmala Buch and former chief secretary of Chhattisgarh SK Mishra will negotiate with Maoists on behalf of the Chhattisgarh government for the early and safe release of Menonquot Raman Singh told reporters quotThe talk should not be held in context of any deadlinequot he said Soon after being named Mishra said he would do the best to manage Menon39s release quotI am in touch with the Chhattisgarh government regarding the demands put forth by Maoists but it39s not possible to do everything in a deadline periodquot Mishra remarked Bhushan explaining his reasons to decline being mediator told IANS that he quotcannot mediate using an innocent person39s life as a pawnquot and said the Maoists quotshould unconditionally release Menonquot Maoists are demanding that Chhattisgarh39s Bharatiya Janata Party BJP regime must free its eight key jailed colleagues Marakam Gopannam Nirmal Akka Devpal Chandra Shekher Reddy Shanti Priya Reddy Meena Chowdhary Korasa Sunny Markan Sunny and Asit Kumar Sen and have set April 25 as deadline The other demand is that government should freeze operation Green Hunt against them Bhushan said he considered the Maoists39 demands for release of innocent tribals and ending operation Green Hunt quotcompletely justifiedquot The Congress reacted sharply quotIf he thinks Maoists39 demands are justified he should go and talk with them He should understand the plight of the families of those who have been abducted But who can talk sense with such a senseless personquot Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury said She asked the media not to publicise Bhushan39s comments The 32yearold Menon a 2006 batch Indian Administrative Service IAS officer who belongs to Tamil Nadu was abducted at gunpoint Saturday by rebels from a forested location in Sukma district around 500 km south of Raipur when he was interacting with tribals The Maoists shot dead his two guards who resisted his abduction Chhattisgarh Home Minister Nankiram Kanwar added that Menon was quotcompletely safequot u00a0