Maoists released abducted panchayat members in Odisha

Mistu Khara, former sarpanch of Panasput gram panchayat and Naib Sarpanch Raju Khara were set free in a nearby forest, SP Akhileswar Singh said, adding that the two were freed following appeals by local villagers.

After the incident, seven village guards who were trying to locate them were also abducted by the Maoists on September 23, they said.

While bodies of two of them were later recovered from Panasput area yesterday with their throats slit, five other were set free by the Maoists, the SP said.