Suspected Maoist militants on Tuesday abducted five jawans of Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF), an elite anti-Naxal wing of the state police, and a civilian from a passenger bus at Mehrabeda in the insurgency-hit Narayanpur district, about 450 km from here, the police said.
The CAF personnel, posted at Dhanoura base camp in the district located in south Bastar, had boarded the bus at Orcha and were on their way to Narayanpur, the district headquarters, after their leaves were sanctioned, inspector-general of police (IG) and spokesman of the police headquarters here Rajesh Mishra told this newspaper.
According to him, at around 10 am, around 40 armed Naxal insurgents intercepted the bus, carrying about 30 passengers, in the forested area of Mehrabeda and scrutinised every commuter. They dragged five CAF troopers, who were travelling in plain clothes, out of the bus after identifying them from their identity cards. All the five jawans were unarmed.
The militants also took away with them a civilian, suspecting him to be a special police officer, along with the CAF personnel.