Trio abducted by Maoists vow to continue peace mission

The journey of three youths who recently began travelling on their bicycles to the Maoistaffected areas to spread a message of peace was cut short after Maoists abducted them They were released yesterday afternoon However the experience has not dampened their spirits and they hope to continue their mission albeit with a little precautionThe three men who were abducted by MaoistsThe men were identified as Vikas Valve 22 a resident of Wagholi in Pune Shrikrishna Shewale 23 from Pathan in Satara and Adarsh Patil 22 from Karad in Satara district They had been abducted on December 28 and the rebels in Chhattisgarhs Sukma district released them yesterdaySpeaking to midday Adarsh said We had set out with the mission of Bharat Jodo and our aim was also to understand our own culture Though it has remained incomplete this time we will begin the journey once againHe adds It was coldThe people spoke to us nicely and they provided us food as well Its really unfortunate that we cannot continue our trip but the next time we will definitely take some precaution and do it Recalling the day they were kidnapped Adarsh said We were on our way to Basaguda village in Chhattisgarh Villagers spotted us and took us to an isolated area where people were patrolling with guns Some of them were stationed on trees Language was an issue for us initiallyHe adds They checked our bags and luggage The three of us were then kept in a secluded area in a lockup We were sleeping on one bed This journey was a nightmare for us but after they the Maoists realised that we were not spying on them they decided to release us On Saturday night we were asked to leave with a man after which we reached the police campRelatives speakSpeaking to midday Adarshs father Deepak who is a primary school teacher in Karad said They have been friends since their college days Last year they had taken up a similar initiative to travel to Maoistaffected areas in Maharashtra where they had travelled to Chandrapur and Gadchiroli This year too they went for a tour He added I was in Mumbai and was shocked when I heard about the incident I was chanting gods name and when the Maoist connection came up I thought my son would be tortured But because of gods grace and the police my son is safe I havent told his mother about the incident But I have asked him to cancel his tour and return to KaradMadhumati Vikas cousin said Vikas and Adarsh are friends and have a bachelors degree in History while Shrikrishna is a graduate in Sanskrit Vikas father is farmer and as the son of a farmer he is very attached to social issues To understand these issues in greater depth he planned to travel to such areasSuspect Pappu RaoInspector General of Police Bastar Range SRP Kalluri said Three youths have been released on Sunday afternoon around 1 pm and have safely reached Chintalnar police camp An officer involved in the search operation said During the investigation we found out that three men had left from Pune and had planned to cycle throughout Maharashtra Chhattisgarh and Odisha especially through Maoistaffected areas They had planned to reach Balimela in Odisha by January 10He added On December 28 they entered the Chhattisgarh border via Bijapur in Maharashtra From Chhattisgarh they planned to cycle to Bheeramgad Dantewada and Sukuma village in Chhattisgarh and from there they had planned to travel to Odisha and visit Kalahandi and Malangiri villages We suspect that Maoist Commander Pappu Rao might have been involved in the kidnapping Our probe is in progress