Maoists abuct manager of bridge construction firm in Gaya; search op launched

Gaya Police said the Maoists released two of them on Monday and demanded ₹30 lakh ransom for the third abducted employee, a manager

GAYA: A joint search operation has been launched in Bihar after suspected Maoists abducted three employees of a private firm from a bridge construction site in Gaya on Sunday evening, people familiar with the matter said.

Gaya SSP Ashish Bharti set up a special team of the district police, the state’s special task force and the CRPF’s COBRA (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Police said the Maoists released two of them on Monday and demanded ₹30 lakh ransom for the third abducted employee, a manager identified as Shahbaz Khan. They were reported to have gone ino the dense forests along the Gaya-Aurangabad district boundary.

Gaya senior superintendent of police Ashish Bharti set up a special team of the district police, the state’s special task force and the CRPF’s Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA) to track down the Maoists. The operation is still continuing, 205 COBRA unit commanding officer Kailash Arya said.

People familiar with the matter said it was suspected that the Maoist zonal squad led by its commander Vivek Yadav, who had taken charge last year, was involved in the abduction.

A police officer said Vivek Yadav, who is also known as Rajendra Yadav alias Sunil, was a resident of Kanergarh Tola in Gaya district, was involved in over 20 incidents of Maoist violence in Bihar and Jharkhand. There is a ₹25 lakh reward on his arrest by the Jharkhand government and a ₹3 lakh reward by Bihar government.

The officer said Vivek Yadav had lately stepped up efforts to raise collections from construction firms in the region to revive the organisation and was suspected to be involved in multiple cases of attacks on construction company camps and burning of their equipment.