An auxiliary constable of Chhattisgarh police was abducted by Maoists in restive Bastar region of Chhattisgarh on Monday.
Auxiliary constable Pila Das, a resident of Kankerlanka village of Sukma district, was posted in Pollampalli police station of Sukma and was travelling to Pollampalli from Dornapal town when the incident took place. Senior police officers posted in Bastar, however, refused to divulge any information regarding the abduction.
An officer, who spoke “off the record” with The Hindu, said that Das was travelling in a pickup vehicle which ferries local people in the area. “The Maoists stopped the vehicle near Gorgunda village at around 5 p.m. and forcibly took him along with them. He was unarmed and in plainclothes at the time of abduction,” informed the officer.
The abduction of Das raises serious questions about the safety of lower rung policemen working in restive Sukma district, as it took place in an area where nine police and CRPF camps are based within a 56 km patch and the place of his abduction was a few km away from Gorgunda police camp where more than 250 police and CRPF men are based.
Earlier incidents
Last month, the militants had abducted five auxiliary constables in Bijapur and Sukma district of Bastar, which four were killed and one was let off. In a separate incident, a team of the CRPF arrested a Maoist leader from Darbha area of Bastar. “Budhram Madkam was carrying four kg explosives at the time of his arrest,” Bastar district Superintendent of Police (SP) Ajay Yadav told reporters at Jagdalpur police headquarters.
“Budhram Madkam was carrying four kilogram explosives at the time of his arrest,” Bastar SP Ajay Yadav told reporters at Jagdalpur police headquarters.
