Maoists abduct six TRS leaders in Telangana

Maoists in Telangana's Khammam district have abducted six leaders of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

The local leaders were kidnapped by the cadre of the Communist Party of India-Maoist in Pusuguppa village in Charla mandal of the district, some 250 km from here.

The village is a few kilometers away from the border with Chhattisgarh.

The TRS in-charge for Bhadrachalam constituency M. Ramakrishna was among those kidnapped late on Wednesday. However, it came to light only on Thursday afternoon after the TRS leaders did not return home from the remote village where they had gone to meet some people.

A letter in the name of CPI-Maoist surfaced in the village on Thursday. The Maoist outfit demanded the government take action against policemen involved in the recent killings of two Maoists in Warangal district in a gunbattle, which they described as "fake".

The letter also demanded a halt to combing operations by the police from Khammam to Adilabad districts.

The letter released in the name of the outfit's spokesman Jagan condemned the TRS government for what it called repressive policies. It warned that if the government failed to meet the demands, it will have serious consequences.