News Wrap: Maoist drama over, Menon finally freed

Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon, who was kidnapped by Maoists in Chhattisgrah almost two weeks ago, has reportedly been released by his abductors.The 32-year-old IAS officer has apparently been handed over to two mediators - BD Sharma and Professor G Hargopal - who represented the Maoists in their talks with the Chhattisgarh government.

The handover is happening at a secret location in Tarmetla jungle, deep inside maoist dominated area— 500 kilometres from Raipur, the same place where Maoists had killed 76 paramilitary personnel in April 2010.

At the time of recording there was still no sign of Menon at the CRPF base he was supposed to come to this evening but news has just broken that he has been released and is in good health.

We have a video report which came in from CNN-IBN at around 11 am…

-- Nupur Talwar has now moved to the Allahabad High Court seeking bail. This is a day after the Ghaziabad sessions court rejected her bail plea in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case.The murder trial will be held on 9th May, and Nupur is expected to be in jail for a few days at least.

-- Eight more bodies, including that of a woman and four children, were fished out from the Brahmaputra river. This takes the number of bodies recovered in Monday’s ferry disaster in Assam to 71. Over 250 people are believed to have died in the tragedy in Dhubri district where an overcrowded ferry caught in a sudden storm, snapped in two and capsized in the Brahmaputra river.

-- Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng who has created a storm in China over his ’escape’ from house arrest, says he has been unable to meet US officials to discuss his desire to leave the country. But US officials said that they are still trying to help him. Chen said that he feared for his family’s safety, and denied he was pressured to leave the American Embassy to resettle inside China.

-- Over to business and Audi launched a new version of its A4 model in the India. It has several new features, including 10 percent improved fuel efficiency. And for those of you who can afford it, the sporty car is available at a price starting Rs. 27.3 lakhs.

-- And if someone is launching a product in India, there is another who is not. Samsung announced last night that it won’t be launching its much awaited Galaxy Nexus smartphone in India. But the way they announced it- via twitter- so callously - is what broke our hearts.

-- In sport, Papiss Cisse’s stunning goal sunk Chelsea 2-0 last night, but it’s Little Messi who stole the headlines again after scoring a record 68th goal, breaking Gerd Muller’s 39 year-old record of 67 goals in a season. In the IPL, KKR has gagged their players from talking to the media in the run-up to the highly anticipated clash against Sourav Ganguly’s Pune Warriors. So it’s going be a silent welcome for Dada…

-- Finally, an online ad featuring Ashton Kutcher as an Indian man has been pulled offline after viewers called it racist. Apparently, the brown make-up didn’t go down too well with Indians.