Maoists abduct 5 govt officials, villager in Odisha

Malkangiri: Suspected Maoists on Friday morning abducted a villager and five government officials engaged in the panchayat election process in five gram panchayats in Odisha’s Malkangiri district.

The abducted officials were identified as Purusottam Behera, Hrusikesh Nayak, Prabin Soren, Lingaraj Majhi, Kaminikanta Singh and Manoranjan Sisa.

Manoranjan Sisa is the son of a Jodamba village head.

Reports said the abducted officials were in charge of Andarapali, Gajalmadi, Panasput, Jodamba gram panchayats in the Chitrakonda cut-off area.

The police see the abduction of the officials and the villager as an attempt to sabotage the panchayat elections in Maoist-hit district.

The five-phase panchayat elections in Odisha will begin from February 13 and conclude on February 21.

During the 2014 Assembly elections, the rebels in Malkangiri district had killed Samrudha Odisha candidate Somnath Madhi.

The Maoists have asked people in Malkangiri district to abstain from panchayat poll exercise or face death. Persons going to cast votes will face dismembering of their thump finger, the rebels have warned.

Security personnel have launched a search operation in the dense forest inside the cut-off areas to rescue the abducted persons.