Maoists abduct government official in Jharkhand

About 20 rebels of the Jharkhand Liberation Tiger (JLT) abducted Alok Kumar at gun point from Kekargarh village of Palamau, 190 km from state capital Ranchi, late Monday evening. Kumar is a Circle Officer (CO) of Paki block of Palamau district.

Kumar was abducted when he went there for selecting the Aganwadi members. The guerrillas have alleged that Kumar had already selected the Aganwadi members after taking bribe and was just completing formalities by visiting the village, a police officer said.

An operation has been launched to rescue Kumar, the officer added. Maoist guerrillas are active in 18 of the 24 districts of Jharkhand. Nearly 1,550 people have been killed in Maoist-related violence in the last eight years.