Abducted cop killed in Bihar, 3 others still held hostage by Maoists

Districts of Bihar

Police in Bihar today said they had found the body of one of the four policemen abducted by Maoists and identified him as a Bihar Military Police (BMP) assistant sub-inspector Lukus Tete.

Mr M S Majid, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Munger Range, told a television channel that the police were making all possible efforts to locate the remaining three abducted policemen and rescue them.

He also said that there had been no communication with the Maoists and spoke about the very difficult terrain in which the police had to operate to carry out the rescue operation.

Sources said the Maoists had left a hand-written note next to the slain policeman's body, demanding the immediate release of eight of their arrested colleagues, failing which they have threatened to kill the three cops in their custody.

Tete and the three other policemen were abducted by the Maoists on Sunday after a six-hour gun battle in Lakhisarai district on Sunday. Seven policemen were killed and ten others suffered injuries in that incident.

The Maoists have claimed that the gunfight was in retaliaion for the killing of Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad and a journalist on the night of July 1-2 in Andhra Pradesh.

The three policemen still held by the Maoists have been identified as Abhay Yadav, Rupesh Kumar Sinha and Ehsan Khan. Their families have pleading for help from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and other leaders to get them released.

NNN