Calcutta, March 9: Police today said Ranjit Duley was released by the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities because the Maoist-backed group felt the heat when security forces went chasing the rebels into a forest on Sunday.

Bhupinder Singh, the director-general of police, said the force’s strategy of piling pressure on the Maoists had worked. “Our police made inroads into their strong-holds and Bhalukbasa (the encounter in the jungle on March 7) happened to be one of them,” he said. “We knew the Maoists were under great pressure and may release the headmaster any moment.”

Singh stressed the difference in circumstances this time from that of the abduction of Sankrail officer in-charge Atindranath Dutta. Then the government conceded the Maoists’ demand and released 13 tribal women for Dutta’s freedom. He said when Dutta was abducted, the police were in a “disadvantaged” position and had to give in to the rebels’ demand. “Any attempt to get close to the officer in-charge would have put his life at risk.

“Another reason was that in the event of the OC being killed, the morale of the police force would have gone down considerably.”

Other police officers also said as the joint forces raided village after village, the rebels began to “feel the heat of the onslaught”. “For the Peoples’ Committee as well as the Maoists, the situation was going out of control,” an officer said. “This was especially so since the villagers were turning against the Maoists for inviting police action against them.’’

The Maoists have claimed that at least one person had died and several others got injured during Sunday’s police offensive.