Maoists release TRS leaders in Telangana with warning

Maoists in Telangana on Saturday released six leaders of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) with a warning that party leaders will be killed if the government failed to mend its ways.

The leaders were abducted from a remote village Pusuguppa four days ago. They reached Charla on Saturday morning after the Maoists released them from their captivity in the forests.

With the Communist Party of India (Maoist) releasing the leaders unharmed, their families heaved a sigh of relief.

The TRS in-charge for Bhadrachalam constituency M. Ramakrishna, who was among those kidnapped, told reporters the Maoists sent a message through them, saying if the government did not change its attitude, they would eliminate party leaders from village to state level.

The extremists were angry that the TRS that came to power by promising that it will follow Maoist agenda, was adopting repressive policies and killing them in "fake encounters".

The Maoists also demanded that the government immediately stop anti-Maoist operations.

The leaders were abducted late on Wednesday. However, the incident came to light on Thursday after the TRS leaders did not return home from the remote village where they had gone to meet some people.

The abduction in the region bordering the Maoist stronghold in Chhattisgarh had caused panic among the ruling party's cadre.

The Maoists had released a letter, making three demands including an immediate halt to

"fake encounters" and combing operations.

The outfit had threatened to target TRS leaders if their demands were not met.