On the eve of Republic Day,Maoists abducted six persons including five policemen in the Naxal-affected Narayanpur district in the tribal Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) T J Longkumer said that the policemen belonging to the Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) were travelling in a bus from Dhanora,when the Naxalites intercepted the bus near Kengra and carried out a search. After finding an identity card of a policeman,they continued their search to identify all the other police personnel on board. The abducted policemen have been identified as head constables Ramdhar Patel,R Dhurv,T Ekka and constables Renjan Dubey,Manishankar Dubey. Besides,the rebels also abducted a civilian Moolchand Patel. Longkumer said that search operations have been intensified to trace the abducted police personnel while additional police forces have been pressed into service for carrying out combing operations in the forests. Till now there have been no clues about the missing police personnel, Narayanpur District Superintendent of police Mayank Shrivastav said on Wednesday. Maoists in Bastar had earlier warned bus operators in the region to not allow policemen onboard the vehicle. The bus operators in the region complain that not allowing policemen to board the bus would spell unpleasantness for them while allowing them would invite the wrath of the rebels.
