Hyderabad, April 2 -- The Communist Party of India's (Maoist) central committee has agreed to hold a ceasefire across the left-wing extremism (LWE)-affected states if the central and state governments create a favourable atmosphere for peace talks.

Welcoming the meeting held by the peace talks committee in Hyderabad on 24 March, the Maoist party released an open letter to the public on 28 March.

In the letter, written by the party's central committee spokesperson Abhay, the Maoist party claimed that 400 Maoist party leaders and members, People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) commanders, and innocent people had been killed by the central and state security forces in the last 15 months under 'Operation Kagaar', with one-third of them b...