New plan afoot to deal with Maoist-triggered hostage crisis

The draft SOP by the Centre has been sent to the nine Maoist-affected states, including Jharkhand, for their "comments and suggestions" before finalising the method to deal with any hostage situations in future, according to police sources here.

The SOP has been sent in the wake of the recent abductions of district collectors (Chhatisgarh) and legislators and foreign national (Odisha), by the Maoists to demand release of their jailed cadres, the sources added.

Mooting to effectively neutralise Maoists tactics to resort to abductions to get their demands fulfilled, the draft SOP outlined a key point relating to suspension of anti-naxal operations during negotiations on such situations, giving rebels time to "intensively lay landmines in their areas of dominance".

Therefore, the draft SOP suggested a three-tier crisis management mechanism and their roles to deal with abduction situations.

The draft also touched other points like the process of negotiations, the decision of hard option and other basic requirements, the sources said.