The headmaster was abducted on gunpoint from his school in Sarenga in Bankura on Friday. “Duley was released at Goaltore. Later, he was brought to the Lalgarh police station where we have conducted his medical examination. He was tense and scared. We escorted him to his home in Sarenga,” said Manoj Verma, Superintendent of Police, West Midnapore.

“I could not sleep since they took me away from Shibram Satpathy School. They blindfolded me and took me from one place to another on motorbike. We were constantly on the move, halting from time to time for food or rest,” said Duley over the phone from Sarenga.

The headmaster said he was almost sure he would be killed. “It was yesterday evening when the people who were escorting me told me I would be released,” he added.

With his return his family breathed a sigh of relief. “I am grateful to the media and to the Maoists for releasing my father,” said Golok, the headmaster’s son.

Duley’s release was almost similar to that of abducted Sankrail Officer-in-Charge Atindranath Dutta, who was also freed in the presence of mediapersons. However, instead of Kishenji, this time Sidhu Soren, chief of the Maoist-backed Sidhu-Kanhu Gana Militia, was present.