Staff of school in Koraput kidnapped

Two members of the staff of a school run by a private organisation were allegedly kidnapped by unidentified persons, suspected to be Maoists, in naxal-hit Koraput district of Odisha, police said today.
Those kidnapped last night were identified as school in-charge Sukanta Satapathy and librarian Chinmayee Parida of Auro Mira Vidya Mandir situated at Kechla, about 70 km from here, across Kolab reservoir under Koraput block.
The school is run by Auro Mira Service Society, New Delhi.
Sources said a group of eight armed persons, including three women, reached the school last night and forcibly took away Satapathy and Parida.

Before leaving, the miscreants told the staff that they were kidnapping the two as their higher authorities did not pay any attention to their demand.
A few months back a letter was found pasted at the school gate stating that Maoists had demanded Rs 50 lakh from the school authorities. However, the letter was found to be a fake Maoist letter, sources said.
"Preliminary inquiry does not show any Maoist link in the abduction. The modus operandi of the crime is different from that of Maoists. We suspect it to be the handiwork of some miscreants. Investigation is on and details are awaited," said SP (Koraput) Awinash Kumar.