Maoist accused of killing Bihar cop arrested

PATNA - A Maoist suspected of killing Lucas Tete - one of the four Bihar policemen abducted by the rebels last month - has been arrested, police said Monday. The other three policemen were released unharmed.

Bihar police chief Neelmani said that Boro Koda was arrested from Lakhmipur area in Jamui district.

“A police team have been interrogating him after he was arrested,” he said.

Four Bihar policemen - Tete, Abhay Kumar Yadav, Rupesh Kumar Sinha and Ehsan Khan - were kidnapped by Maoists after a six-hour gunfight in Lakhisarai district Aug 29, in which seven policemen were killed and 10 injured.

Maoists claimed the gunfight was in retaliation for the killing of their leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad and a journalist on the night of July 1-2 in Andhra Pradesh.

The rebels threatened the policemen would be killed unless eight jailed Maoist leaders were released. A day after rebels said they had killed one of the abducted policemen, Tete’s body found in a jungle in Lakhisarai Sep 3. The other three were released Sep 6.