Two government appointed- mediators Saturday morning left in a helicopter from central India' s Two government appointed- mediators Saturday morning left in a helicopter from central India' s Chhatttisgarh state capital of Raipur for the leftwing Naxalite rebel's hideout in dense jungles, to negotiate the release of an abducted bureaucrat, said official sources. state capital of Raipur for the leftwing Naxalite rebel's hideout in dense jungles, to negotiate the release of an abducted bureaucrat, said official sources.

Chhattisgarh government appointed interlocutors and the mediators Friday held a long discussion to find a safe way for the release of Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon, an asthma patient, as the rebels hiked their demand demanding the release of 17 jailed rebels instead of eight earlier.

Sources said that the mediators, Professor G. Hargopal and former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer B.D. Sharma, who had served as district collector of Bastar in the state and was popular among tribesmen, left in a chopper in the morning towards the Naxal stronghold in Tarmetla area in Sukma district.

The Naxals in April 2010 ambushed and killed 76 security personnel in the area, the biggest ever attack carried out by the rebels till date.

The sources informed that government mediators had clarified the state government's stand on the rebels' two demands of release of 17 jailed Naxals and complete halt of anti-Naxal drive " Operation Green Hunt".

Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh Friday evening told the media the safe release of abducted district collector Alex Paul Menon is his top priority now.

The Naxals had on April 22, a day after the collector's kidnapping, sent an anonymous taped message to media outlets in the state demanding release of eight of their key jailed leaders.

However, Friday morning, they demanded that 17 jailed rebels to be released.