Bihar Hostage Crisis: Two Maoists taken into custody

PATNA - Bihar Police on Saturday arrested two Maoist leaders linked with the encounter and abduction of four policemen in Lakhisarai from the Gurmaha forest area under Barhat police station in Jamui district.

“Maoists have been identified as Area commanders Pintoo da and Bahadur Yadav. The arrested Naxals have confessed their involvement in the encounter at Kajra in Lakhisarai district on August 29,” said Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) Neelmani.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has also called an all-party meeting today to discuss the kidnapping of four policemen by the Maoists.

The Maoists have killed one of the four kidnapped policemen.itish Kumar is also trying to personally contact opposition leaders to take them into confidence on the kidnapping issue.

There are reports that the security forces have further intensified search and rescue operations to find out security men held hostage by the Maoists.

A massive operation is also underway in Banka, Jamui and Munger districts of the State. The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and Indian Air Force helicopters have been pressed into search operation.

A comprehensive plan is being worked out to launch a joint operation along the Bihar-Jharkhand border to get hold of the Naxals. All outlets of the forest have been sealed and a massive manhunt is on to nab the Maoists.

Earlier on Friday, the Union Home Ministry dispatched another helicopter and additional paramilitary personnel to Bihar to assist the security forces in locating the three policemen, who are still in the Maoists’ custody.

The Bihar Government had sought 4,000 additional paramilitary forces from the Central Government to deal with the rising Maoist violence.

The body of police constable Lucas Tete was found in the Lakhisarai jungles of Bihar on Friday morning with a note from Naxals saying, “We have killed a hawaldar since our colleagues were not released. If our colleagues are not released we will kill other cops as well.”

A new deadline set by the Naxals for releasing the abducted cops in exchange for their jailed comrades had ended at 10 a.m. on Friday. he Maoists called local TV channels on Thursday to declare that one of the four policemen they had kidnapped had been killed as the State government had failed to respond.

Nitish Kumar had on Thursday assured all support to the families of the policemen taken as hostage, and said the police top brass have also been asked to do everything possible to get the kidnapped policemen released.

The four policemen - Mohammad Ehsaan, Rupesh Kumar Sinha, Abhay Prasad Yadav, Lokus Tete- were taken hostage on Sunday, during an encounter in the forests of Lakhisarai.

Seven other policemen were killed and 11 injured in the same encounter.he encounter began on Sunday evening when over 150 armed Maoists attacked search teams of the Bihar police combing the area following intelligence reports of the presence of Maoists in the forest area. (ANI)