Maoists abduct 'Gaon Sathi' in Odisha

Armed Maoists allegedly abducted a person working as a 'Gaon Sathi' at a village in Kandhamal district suspecting him to be a police informer, police said.
The 'Gaon Sathi', Basant Kumar Bhatta was abducted from his house at Durgapanga village in the early hours today, said Chandra Sekhar Hota, Kandhamal additional superintendent of police.
The Maoists suspected the villager to be a police informer though he had not received any threats, the ASP said.
"We have sent a team of police officers to inquire into the incident and take proper action but so far no communication has been received from the team," the ASP told reporters here.

The police recovered Maoist posters in the area asking people to observe an 'Odisha bandh' on October 21 over the issue of Mahanadi water dispute with Chhattisgarh.
Bhatta's family members said, about 15 armed men in uniform came to their house shortly after midnight and after a brief conversation forcibly took him away but promising to release him soon.
Odisha government had recruited 'Gaon Sathis' in January 2008, two in each village, under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), to facilitate smooth implementation and execution of the scheme.