A senior Indian Forest Service official from Pune in Maharashtra, who was abducted by suspected insurgents two days ago near a forest area in Arunachal Pradesh's West Kameng district, is yet to be traced.

Police sources said forest official Vilas Bardekar was abducted at gunpoint by suspected militants belonging to the banned National Democratic Front of Bodoland on Wednesday morning from a village near Eagle's Nest Wildlife Sanctuary in West Kameng.

Bardekar, who is the joint director of social forestry in Pune, was on a private visit to Arunachal Pradesh and had gone to the Daimara reserved forests to take photographs of butterflies when he was kidnapped.

The police have interrogated the two local guides, who were with Bardekar when he was abducted by a group of eight armed militants.

The police has launched a search operation in the area and has mounted vigil along the Assam border.

The 217-sq km Eagle's Nest Wildlife Sanctuary is known for over 155 species of butterflies. Botanists and entomologists often visit West and East Kameng districts to collect data for research work.

The area is known as a stronghold of the banned NDFB.