MUMBAI - Maoist guerrillas should give up their “armed liberation struggle” to pave the way for dialogue and the development of violence-hit states, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said here Wednesday, a day after the decapitated body of a Jharkhand police officer who had been abducted by guerrillas was found.

Addressing a press conference here, Chidambaram refused to term actions against the guerrillas as war and said: It is Naxalites who believe in violence, who use words like war and war preparation. We do not treat it as war.

“We are a civilised country… we do not wage war against our own people. Maoists must abjure violence and take the path of democracy and dialogue.

The home minister said the governments of states affected by Maoist violence had been asked to discuss the issues of development, neglect, deprivation and government structure in case they give up arms.

Unless violence stops, no development is possible… Violence is simply unacceptable in a democracy and republic. No government which has taken oath under constitution can accept an armed liberation struggle.

We have no option but to ask the security forces to engage them (Maoists), apprehend them. It (Maoist violence) has grown over last 10-12 years… As long as Naxalites do not abjure violence the security forces will confront them, engage them, the home minister added.

Chidambaram said surrendering arms was a must as the government and the Maoists could claim to represent the same group of people. The issues, he stressed, should be dealt with in democratic ways.

The minister said no foreign aid was being given to the Maoists to wage their movement.

There is no evidence of Naxalites getting money from abroad. They are able to raise money inside the country. But they also loot banks, kidnap and extort, he added.

Chidambaram’s comments come a day after Jharkhand police inspector Francis Induwar, who had been abducted on Sep 30, was found killed on the Ranchi-Jamshedpur highway.