Three bodies recovered, 4 policemen still missing

Police suspect the hand of CPI (Maoist) in the attack

The Chhattisgarh police have recovered the bodies of three policemen in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, even as searches for four other policemen continued.

Chhattisgarh Director General of Police Vishwaranjan said that the six policemen were travelling on Sunday on two motorcycles in the forests between Bhopalpatnami and Bhadrakali when they went missing.

“We have recovered the bodies of one head constable, a constable and a special police officer,” said Mr. Viswaranjan. The three bodies have been identified as those of Obedam Tirki, Nandlal Khosle and Erpa Krishnan.

No demand for ransom

Police suspect that the attack was conducted by cadres of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). The district police are also searching for a seventh policeman who has been missing for the last several days after leaving his camp in Bijapur for his village.

Mr. Vishwaranjan said that the Maoists had not raised any demands regarding a possible ransom for the four missing policemen.

Bijapur Superintendent of Police, Rajendra Narain Das told The Hindu that the six policemen were travelling from the police camp in Bhopalpatnam to Bhadrakali on “official emergency duties” when they went missing. The men were unarmed and were not in uniform.

“On the evening of September 19 [Sunday] we received information from a villager that three bodies were lying on the roadside. When the bodies were recovered today, they were identified as the three missing policemen,” said Mr. Das. Mr. Das said the policemen had been stabbed to death.