Three youths from Pune, who were kidnapped by Naxals last month in Chhattisgarh and released after five days, today said they were not ill-treated in any way by their abductors.
The students shared their experience during captivity when they also came to know about the harsh life in Naxal-dominated areas at a press conference here, in which Superintendent of Police of Gadchiroli, Sandeep Patil, was also present.
The trio - Aadarsh Patil, Vilas Valake and Shrikirhna Shevale - was abducted from Basaguda village of Bijapur district on December 29 and freed on January 2.
They said the Naxals did not harm or ill-treat them during captivity.
The youths had on December 20 launched a cycle rally from Pune under their "Bharat Jodo" (Link India) campaign to propagate the message of peace in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, the states worst affected by Naxalism.
"We had gone to study the life of people in remote and Naxal-affected tribal areas as part of our mission and did not expect to be kidnapped by the Naxals, though we fully knew about their presence," they said.
"On December 29, we halted at Basaguda village in Chhattisgarh but some people in civil clothes approached us and tied our hands upon which we realised we have been kidnapped. However, the villagers offered us food.
"The next day a man in Naxal uniform came to us and enquired about the motive of our tour. We had some money in our wallets but that was not touched by villagers or Naxals. They checked our cameras, mobiles, bags etc. On January 2, we were released," the Pune students said.
"We saw an entirely different world where people still lived in deprivation. They had no access to electricity, nutritious food or good clothes."
Patil said the IG of Chhattisgarh (Bastar Range), the SP of Sukma district and some social organisations played an important role in the release of the students.
From Sukma, where they were freed, the students were brought to Jagdalpur, from where we brought them to Gadchiroli last evening, he added.
