New Delhi, Oct 24. (PTI): Bengal’s swap of tribals to secure the release of an abducted police officer is a decision taken by the state government and only time will tell whether it is right or wrong, home minister P. Chidambaram said today.

“They did not seek my advice nor was I required to offer them any advice. They are the best judges of what was required to be done in that situation. They have taken the decision. Whether it is the right one or wrong one only time will tell,” he said.

On the state government’s approach to the problem, he said it had learnt its lesson “very late”. “I do not mean this as a criticism but a fact.”

The minister said the CPM and the CPI (Maoists) thought they were brothers in arms fighting the bourgeois Congress or the Trinamul Congress but now the state government and the ruling party had recognised that the Maoists were their adversary.

“They have now woken up to the threat of the CPI (Maoists).”