Anti-Maoist operations were halted for a day on Saturday in the hope that the ultras would release abducted policeman Sunesh Ram, who has not returned home after the January 22 landmine blast in Jharkhand's Garhwa district.
The operations were halted for a day after Ram's family made a request on the basis of media reports that he would be released if they were halted, Garhwa Superintendent of Police Michael S Raj told reporters in Garhwa.
The anti-Maoist operations were launched in Garhwa, Palamau and Latehar districts after 13 policemen were killed in a landmine blast near Bariganwa forests.
The rank of Ram, who was posted with the Garhwa district police, has not been disclosed.
He was deputed as a security guard to Garhwa Zilla Parishad chairperson Susma Mehta. Ram was accompanying her and two others to Bargarh. All of them were were kidnapped by Maoists after the landmine explosion.
The left-wing guerrillas had told local media in Latehar that they would release them if the operations against them were halted and three base camps situated in Latehar removed.
The rebels later let off Mehta and two others, but kept Ram in their custody, as narrated to the police by the chairperson after she was released on January 24.
