‘Maoists aiming to demolish morale of forces’

NEW DELHI - Maoists are aiming to “demolish the morale” of security personnel, a home ministry official said Friday after the guerrillas killed one of the four policemen they had abducted in Bihar five days ago.

“It is a disturbing trend. It is a move to demolish the morale of the forces,” a senior home ministry official told IANS, reacting to reports that the body of Bihar police official Lucas Tete was found in a forest Friday.

Tete’s body was found a day after the rebels claimed to have killed sub-inspector Abhay Kumar Yadav. The other two abducted policemen are Rupesh Kumar Sinha and Ehsan Khan.

“The home ministry is ready to extend any help to the Bihar government in tackling the hostage crisis,” the official added.

He said the central government was viewing the Bihar situation against the backdrop of the coming assembly polls later this year.

Additional forces will be deployed in the Maoist-affected areas to ensure peaceful elections, the official said.