ASI not found,scared cops abandon post

A week after Maoists abducted an Orissa Police assistant sub-inspector from a police station in Keonjhar district,a sense of fear...

A week after Maoists abducted an Orissa Police assistant sub-inspector from a police station in Keonjhar district,a sense of fear seems to have gripped the police stations in the area.

On the night of July 7,over 80 Maoists had abducted ASI Umesh Chandra Marandi from Daitari Police Station in Keonjhar after setting it on fire. The Maoists had then asked for release of 68 Maoist sympathisers in lieu of his release within a week.

A combing operation had began to trace Marandi,however,it was abandoned in the absence of intelligence inputs.

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Even as the Maoist deadline ended on Wednesday,there was no news of Marandi. On the other hand,cops at the police outpost in Telkoi deserted their base Tuesday night after getting information that Maoists were hiding in nearby forests and could attack them anytime,sources said. Telkoi is close to Daitari from where Maoists kidnapped Marandi.

Daitari police station inspector-in-charge R K Sahu said Maoists have blocked the road at some places by felling trees. Sahu admitted that a sense of fear gripped the cops in the area.