Naxals hijack 2 boats in Andhra; 45 taken captive

Some Naxalites, disguised as passengers, entered the boats and pulled out guns as soon as the vessels set sail on river Krishna.

Three days after nine Maoists were killed in a police encounter, Naxalites on Sunday hijacked two luxury boats on river Krishna and abducted about ten of the 234 holidaymakers and 35 crewmembers, police said.

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The holidaymakers, who included a good number of advocates and a marriage party, boarded luxury boats Shanti-Siri and ML Krishna, to go to the picturesque Nagarjuna hills near Nagarjuna Sagar dam in Guntur-Nalgonda districts of Andhra Pardesh, they said.

Some Naxalites, disguised as passengers, entered the boats and pulled out guns as soon as the vessels set sail, police said.

They asked about ten passengers and the crew not to leave the vessels before getting others to disembark and directed the pilots to sail the boats towards Srisailam Project, they said.

The advocates later informed the police on phone about the kidnapping, they added.