Less than 24 hours after he was kidnapped by cadres of a breakaway faction of the CPI (Maoist), RJD leader Ramchandra Singh was released on Friday afternoon. Singh, who has represented Jharkhand's Manika constituency twice in the state Assembly, is contesting the polls on the RJD ticket.

Singh said he was “treated well” during the night he was held captive, allegedly by members of the Latehar-based Chhattisgarh Simant Committee — a breakaway faction of the CPI(Maoist) set up by Naxal leader Suresh Yadav. Singh and five of his supporters were on their way back to Latehar on Thursday night after attending a function at a nearby village when they were waylaid by a gang of around 40 armed men.

Since Singh has not lodged a complaint, the police are yet to register an FIR. IG Rezi Dungdung said, “We are trying to find out why they kidnapped him and then released him.”