More than two days after armed Maoists abducted eight labourers in Bihar’s Jamui district, the police are still in the dark about their whereabouts and have failed to rescue them.
“Police have launched a joint search operation in areas along the Jharkhand border in Jamui and neighbouring districts to rescue the abducted labourers,” Jamui Superintendent of Police Upendra Sharma said.
Sharma admitted that so far there is no trace of them despite intensive combing operations launched.
According to police officials, the labourers were abducted at gunpoint by a group of more than 50-armed Maoists early on Sunday after the construction company employing them refused to pay the levy demanded by the rebels. The incident took place near Baldidih village in Jamui, about 200 km from Patna.
A self-styled Maoist leader Sidhu Koda informed the local media about the abduction. Koda claimed that labourers were abducted as the company engaged in construction had defied their directive of stopping work.
Local villagers informed the police that few days ago that some contractors engaged in construction work of the bridge had left the project owing to threat to their life from Maoists.
Earlier, Maoists had abducted 15 people, including 12 labourers, in Jamui but later released them unharmed.
Jamui is considered a rebel stronghold.
