Armed left-wing extremists allegedly kidnapped three villagers from the Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary in Odisha’s Kalahandi district on Wednesday night.
Security forces could not trace the abducted villagers though a massive combing operation had been launched soon after the news of the kidnapping broke on Thursday morning, sources said.
Around 20 left-wing extremists, including seven women members, raided the Karlapat village in search of Prasanna Majhi, a special police officer around midnight on Wednesday. Mr. Majhi, however, managed to give them the slip. Failing to find the SPO in his residence, members of the CPI(Maoist) set his bike on fire.
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Subsequently, the extremists knocked on the doors of Hari Pradhani, accused of brewing country-made liquor, and took him into their custody.
Their next target was Banamali Naik, also accused of selling country liquor. When extremists attempted to capture him, Naik’s elder brother, Sudarshan Naik, resisted and the ultras kidnapped him as well. The extremists accused the three villagers of providing information to security forces, sources said.
“Special Operation Group and CRPF personnel are conducting searches. Extremists have kidnapped villagers out of frustration as their support base has eroded in the district,” said Brijesh Kumar Rai, Kalahandi SP.
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