Nov. 3: Atindranath Dutta, the police officer who has been at home since being abducted and released by Maoists about a fortnight ago, has been asked to report for duty “at the earliest”.

Director-general of police Bhupinder Singh said the former Sankrail police station officer-in-charge had been asked to report to the West Midnapore superintendent of police “at the earliest”.

“Whether he will again be posted as the officer-in-charge of the police station can be decided after he speaks to the superintendent,” the state police chief said.

Dutta, who had said on being released by his captors on October 22 that he would decide what to do next after a 15-day break, had sought a safe posting. Singh said: “We will see if he needs to be shifted after the superintendent submits a report to me.”

A circle inspector has taken charge of the Sankrail police station in Dutta’s absence.

West Midnapore police chief Manoj Verma said tonight that he had asked Dutta in writing to “resume office immediately”. “He had not been granted any leave. So I have asked him to resume office immediately,” he said.

Official sources said Dutta had not applied for leave from his bosses after being set free.

The officer was unavailable for comment. His wife Indrani claimed ignorance about the directive. “Atindra is not at home. I heard about the SP’s order on television. Atindra isn’t carrying a cellphone and I don’t know if he knows about the order,” Indrani said.

Development funds

The state and the Centre will together spend Rs 1,600 crore on ongoing development projects in Maoist-hit West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia, government sources said.