Eight in Maoist captivity in Chhattisgarh
By IANSMonday, October 25, 2010
RAIPUR - Eight people continued to be in Maoist captivity in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region even as the rebels released three others they had abducted, police said Monday.
The guerrillas kidnapped five members of a special police officer’s (SPO) family Friday from a bus in Bijapur district, about 500 km from Raipur. On Saturday, five youths were taken away from Awapalli area in Bijapur.
The five youths were reportedly abducted after their plan to enlist themselves as SPOs was leaked to Maoists.
The rebels had also abducted a member of Janpad panchayat from Usur locality of the same district Sunday, taking the total number of people kidnapped to 11.
However, the Maoists released three people of the SPO’s family late Sunday.
Officials at the police headquarters say that police and paramilitary personnel in Bijapur have launched a drive to trace the abducted civilians.
Bijapur is part of the Bastar region along with Dantewada, Bastar, Narayanpur and Kanker districts where Maoists have dominated the forested interiors since the late 1980s.
