Indian ambassador Shiv Shankar Mukherjee has assured Maoists of early release of their comrade from an Indian jail, senior Maoist leader Dr. Baburam Bhattarai told Kantipur Television.

During their meeting with the Indian envoy Shiv Shankar Mukherjee on Tuesday, Maoist chairman Prachanda and Dr. Bhattarai reportedly got the assurance of early release of their comrade Chandra Prakash Gajurel aka Gaurav from an Indian jail in West Bengal.

“We were assured that comrade Gaurav will be released within a few days. However, regarding the release of comrade Kiran (Mohan Baidya), we were informed that it could take some time,” Dr. Bhattarai told the Television following the meeting with Indian envoy in Lainchaur.

Dr. Bhattarai said that the release of their comrades from Indian jails would further ease the environment of peace talks. Gaurav and Kiran are two senior most Maoist leaders who are languishing in Indian jails. After recent political changes in Nepal, Indian authorities have freed some Nepalese Maoist leaders from Indian jails but they have held back from releasing Gaurav and Kiran.

In fact, Gaurav had recently completed his three years of jail sentence in Chennai and was released on September 18. However, he was immediately re-arrested by West Bengal police who slapped fresh charges of treason against him and moved him to a jail in their state. Just a few days ago, a court in West Bengal agreed to recognize him as a political prisoner. Gajurel was arrested on August 20, 2003 from Chennai airport as he was about to board an airplane to London. He faced charges of using fake passport.

Another senior Maoist leader Mohan Baidya is languishing in an Indian jail in Siliguri for the past few years.