It was an emotional moment for the Menon family at Sukma, nearly 450 km from here, when the local district collector Alex Paul Menon reunited with his pregnant wife Asha after spending 13 days in Maoist custody.

Two Maoist mediators on Friday virtually contested chief minister Raman Singh’s denial of any swap deal with Naxals to secure Sukma district collector Alex Paul Meon’s release from Maoist custody, saying that “there was an understanding to release 3 Maoists” in exchange of the IAS officer’s freedom.

Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon walked free Thursday afternoon after 13 days in Maoist custody. The Maoists handed him over to their two mediators — social activist B.D. Sharma and Prof. Hargopal, a Hyderabad-based academic — in the media’s presence at Tadmetla forest in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district.

Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh on Thursday evening announced the constitution of the high-power standing committee to review cases of all undertrials, including Naxals, exactly an hour after Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon was released by Maoists in Tadmetla forest in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district.

Two Maoist mediators — former bureaucrat B.D. Sharma and Hyderabad-based academician Prof. Hargopal — are scheduled to reach Tadmetla in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district on Thursday to get the abduct

After being held hostage by Maoists for 12 days, abducted Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon is expected to be freed by this evening when he will be handed over to the two mediators handpicked by the cap

Bringing smiles on the faces of family and friends, abducted Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon has been released by the Maoists on Thursday afternoon.

TV reports claimed the collector has been handed

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Tuesday offered to mediate between the government and the Maoists to bring lasting solution to the Naxal problem.

Ending the 11-day-old suspense over fate of the abducted Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon, held hostage by the Naxals since April 21, the Maoists on Tuesday evening said they will release him on May 3.

In a late Monday evening twist to the hostage crisis involving Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon, mediators nominated by the Chhattisgarh government and Maoists reached a consensus on four major issues, raising hope for the early release of the IAS officer who has been in Naxal captivity since April 21.