Raipur/ Bhopal: The Maoists on Saturday pulled off an audacious kidnapping of the district collector of Sukma in southern Chhattisgarh, killing two of his bodyguards when they tried to stop them. The collector, Alex Paul Menon, was in a meeting with a group of villagers for a government outreach programme.
A 2006 batch IAS officer, Menon was tracked by the Maoists as he reached Manjipara village in tribal Bastar region on Saturday afternoon, according to the police.
“Around 90 Maoists reached the spot and shot dead two personal security officers of the collector before taking him into the nearby forest,” said additional director general of police Ram Niwas. The rebels, he said, spared the sub-divisional magistrate SK Vaidya who was present in Manjipara village.
AUDACIOUS STRIKE
Around 90 Maoists blend in with villagers
at an outreach programme in Manjipara, Bastar
Take Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon at gunpoint around 4.30pm after killing his two bodyguards
First time that the Maoist group in Dandakaranya has targeted a senior administrative official. Abductions were limited to constables so far Search ops to rescue collector
Raipur/Bhopal: Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon was abducted even as uncertainty looms over the fate of BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka in custody of Orissa Maoists, and days after the Supreme Court questioned the Orissa government on the release of Maoists from prisons in exchange of hostages.
“The collector was abducted at gun point between 4.30 and 5pm. The Maoists apparently waited for him for over an hour at the function in the village as a part of the government’s “gram swaraj abhiyan” – a village contact programme,” a government spokesman told TOI from Raipur. It is suspected that the rebels have taken the collector deep inside the forests of Kerlapal, some of which are suspected to be heavily mined by the Maoists.
A police team led by DSP Abhishek Shandilya has launched a search operation to try and rescue the collector, said Ram Niwas. A special team was formed to join the effort after director general of police A M Nawani held an emergency meeting with other police brass.
Chief minister Raman Singh said every effort will be made to secure the collector’s release, even as home minister P Chidambaram spoke to Singh assuring his administration of all help from the Centre.
A 2006 batch IAS officer, Menon was tracked by the Maoists as he reached Manjipara village in tribal Bastar region on Saturday afternoon, according to the police.
“Around 90 Maoists reached the spot and shot dead two personal security officers of the collector before taking him into the nearby forest,” said additional director general of police Ram Niwas. The rebels, he said, spared the sub-divisional magistrate SK Vaidya who was present in Manjipara village.
AUDACIOUS STRIKE
Around 90 Maoists blend in with villagers
at an outreach programme in Manjipara, Bastar
Take Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon at gunpoint around 4.30pm after killing his two bodyguards
First time that the Maoist group in Dandakaranya has targeted a senior administrative official. Abductions were limited to constables so far Search ops to rescue collector
Raipur/Bhopal: Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon was abducted even as uncertainty looms over the fate of BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka in custody of Orissa Maoists, and days after the Supreme Court questioned the Orissa government on the release of Maoists from prisons in exchange of hostages.
“The collector was abducted at gun point between 4.30 and 5pm. The Maoists apparently waited for him for over an hour at the function in the village as a part of the government’s “gram swaraj abhiyan” – a village contact programme,” a government spokesman told TOI from Raipur. It is suspected that the rebels have taken the collector deep inside the forests of Kerlapal, some of which are suspected to be heavily mined by the Maoists.
A police team led by DSP Abhishek Shandilya has launched a search operation to try and rescue the collector, said Ram Niwas. A special team was formed to join the effort after director general of police A M Nawani held an emergency meeting with other police brass.
Chief minister Raman Singh said every effort will be made to secure the collector’s release, even as home minister P Chidambaram spoke to Singh assuring his administration of all help from the Centre.
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