NEW DELHI, India, Dec.29, Reuter: Eight Marxist extremists have been freed from jail in Southern India after their group abducted the same number of government officials, the Press Trust of India reported on Tuesday,

PTI quoted a senior civil servant as saying in Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh State, that Naxalite extremists from the People’s War group had been freed while talks continued for the release of the officials.

The Naxalities demanded the release of their comrades, who were arrested for the murder of six policemen in July.

Police commandoes were sent to Andhra Pradesh on Monday to tackle the extremists,

The movement took its name from a 1967 peasant uprising in Naxalbari in eastern India.

It was outlawed in the early 1970s, but some bands still operate in eastern and southern India.

Article extracted from this publication >> January 1, 1988