Efforts on to trace 6 policemen abducted by Naxals in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh Police is making hectic efforts to trace six police officials abducted by a group of armed Naxals from the insurgency-hit Bijapur district.

"Earlier there was information that four assistant constables were kidnapped by Maoists from Kutru police station area last evening, but later abduction of two 'Gopniya Sainik' (secret informers) was also reported late last night," Bijapur Additional Superintendent of Police Indira Kalyan Elesela told PTI.

The police and paramilitary forces have launched a massive combing operation in the area to trace the abducted personnel, he said.

"Efforts are on to trace the location of kidnapped jawans and to ascertain the motive behind the abduction. However, so far no demand has been made by Maoists against their release," the ASP said.

As per preliminary investigation, the rebels were reportedly conducting a checking of passenger buses and other vehicles en-route to Kutru from Bijapur last evening.

Four of the jawans were travelling in a bus while two others were on a motorcycle to Kutru from Bijapur town when they were stopped in a dense forested patch near Saknapalli village.

On identifying them as police personnel, the Naxals abducted them, he said.

The kidnapped personnel have been identified as Jaidev Yadav, Mangal Sodhi and Raju Tela, all posted at Kutru police station, Rama Majji, deployed at Bedre police station, and two secret informers, also of assistant constable rank, Michha Hunga and Jaylal, he added.

"The police jawans had travelled to Bijapur without informing their seniors. We don't allow jawans to travel freely without enough security cover and precaution in Naxal-affected zones," Bijapur Superintendent of Police K L Dhurva had yesterday said.

Bijapur's Kutru region is considered one of the strong bastions of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) in Bastar region.

During the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the armed rebels had ambushed a polling party on April 12 near Ketulnar village under Kutru police station limits when they were returning to their fold after polling, killing six of them and injuring as many others