Two men abducted by Naxals in C'garh released 11 days later

Agovernment sub-engineer and an employee of a private construction firm were released by the Naxals today, eleven days after they were abducted from the Balrampur district of Chhattisgarh, police said.

"Continuous massive search operations by the security forces, involving the District Force (of police) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), to trace the abducted persons bore fruit," Balrampur Superintendent of Police T R Koshima told PTI.

The pressure created by the security forces compelled the rebels to release the two men, he claimed.

Petrus Dungdung, a sub-engineer working under the Centre's Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY), and Shankar Bihari, a construction company employee, were abducted by Naxals on April 28.

They were released by the ultras today, and were being brought back to the Samri police station, the SP said.

He did not disclose the location where the two were released, but said the two men were spotted by police in a forest in Samri area.

The SP maintained that the Naxals had not made any demands for the release. The rebels had to bow before the increasing pressure of the security forces who were on their heels, he said.

On April 28,Naxals set ablaze a JCB machine, a road roller and three heavy trucks engaged in a road construction work under the PMGSY between Bandarchua and Pundag villages under Samri police station limits in this district adjoining Jharkhand, around 450 km from the state capital Raipur.

They also abducted Dungdung, Bihari and another employee of the construction company, Raju Gupta. Gupta was released on the same night.

Koshima had earlier said thatthe cadres belonging to the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), which is active on the Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh border, headed by local Maoist leaders Mrityunjay and Vimal, were behind the incident.