Abducted Assam government official escapes from captors

An Assam government official, abducted by a gang of criminals, has managed to escaped from his captors, a police official said Friday.

Rashidul Haque, the block development officer of Fakirganj Block in Assam's Dhubri district, was kidnapped by criminals Nov 20 for ransom, Goalpara district police chief Nitul Gogoi said.

"Haque escaped from the clutches of the abductors Thursday evening," he said.

The captors allegedly kept Haque at Khamari village along the Assam-Meghalaya border near Tikrikilla in the West Garo Hills.

Gogoi said three abductors, allegedly hired by the Meghalaya-based Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) rebel outfit to abduct Haque, have been arrested.

The GNLA, outlawed by the central government, forged an operational alliance with the United Liberation Front of Asom and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, which provided it access to sophisticated arms and ammunition.

GNLA rebels, who number around 100, unleashed terror in three impoverished districts of Garo Hills in the past one year and killed over 50 people, including security personnel.