In the wake of the 12-day hostage crises that ended after the release of Sukma Collector, Mr Alex Paul Menon, the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Mr Raman Singh, here today sought a national policy to deal with such situations.

“There has to be a national policy to deal with hostage crises. I will ask Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, in tomorrow's meeting to call all chief ministers to discuss it. There is a need to discuss it briefly,” Mr Singh told reporters here.

Stressing that Naxalism is not a State-specific problem, the Chief Minister said a national policy can help in tackling the situation in all the affected States.

“I feel there is a need to initiate a policy at the national-level. Maoism is not a State problem. It is a problem of the country,” he said.

2006 batch IAS officer Mr Menon, who was abducted on April 21 in Sukma district while touring a village, was yesterday handed over to the two Maoist mediators — Mr B. D. Sharma and Prof G Hargopal — at Tadmetla.

“The release of Sukma Collector is a matter of relief and happiness for us. The agreement between the Government and Maoists mediators will be a milestone to create a positive atmosphere in Chhattisgarh,” Mr Singh said.

He said, as promised, a committee was constituted within an hour of the collector's release. “The Committee will be headed by former Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh, Ms Nirmala Buch. The Committee will review all the pending cases of all prisoners languishing in Chattisgarh jails including the cases demanded by the Maoists on a priority basis,” the CM added.

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