The passengers were abducted from an interior pocket in Narayanpur district, about 350 km south from capital Raipur. "The Maoists stopped a bus and identified five jawans of the Chhattisgarh Armed Forces (CAF) and took them away," sources here at police headquarters told IANS.

He added that a civilian was also abducted along with the troopers either on suspicion of being a policeman or for interfering in the abduction. The abducted jawans were unarmed and also not in police uniform as they were returning to district headquarters Narayanpur town from interior areas on leave.

The abduction episode has surprised the police administration in the state as high security arrangements have been made across the state ahead of Wednesday's Republic Day function which the Maoists have announced they would boycott.