BDO abducted from Bihar village

A Block Development Officer was kidnapped by Maoists on Sunday from a village in Sheohar district where he had gone on an election-related assignment. The matter came to the notice of the authorities around noon when a police patrolling team found the official vehicle of Tariyani BDO Manoj Singh,who had left the block office for Latuara village around 10 am. Most part of Sheohar and Sitamarhi are Maoist-hit.

Confirming the BDOs kidnapping by the ultras,Bihar Director General of Police Neelmani told The Indian Express: The BDO had gone to the village without any police. We learnt that as soon as he got down near the village from his vehicle,motorcycle-borne Maoists kidnapped him at gunpoint. Police have no information about the BDOs driver.

Neelmani said IGPs from Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga and SPs from Sheohar,Darbhanga,Madhubani and Sitamarhi are leading the search operation. The police said BDO Singh had recently joined at Tariyani. He had not got any threat calls from Maoists. This is the first time in the past five years that Maoists have kidnapped a BDO. A few months ago,a BDO was kidnapped in Jharkhand but was released after the then Shibu Soren government agreed to some of its demands.

Meanwhile,according to unconfirmed reports,at least five policemen were killed in an encounter between state police and Maoists at the Naxal hideout of Kajra near Lakhisarai.