Indian police nab two Maoists, widen search for abducted policemen

Sep 4, 2010, 11:57 GMT

New Delhi - Indian police on Saturday arrested two Maoists in the eastern state of Bihar and intensified the search for three policemen being held hostage by the insurgents, news reports said.

The two militants suspected to be behind the abduction were apprehended in southern Jamui, bordering the Lakhisarai district where four policemen were captured Monday, the NDTV network reported.

On Friday, police recovered the body of policeman Lukas Tete in a the forest in the district, situated 150 kilometres south-east of state capital Patna.

NDTV quoted police sources as saying the arrests could prove to be a 'breakthrough' in connection with the hostage crisis.

The insurgents have threatened to kill the policemen unless eight jailed comrades were freed and anti-Maoist operations are immediately halted.

Police said there was no information about the policemen who were taken prisoners after a six-hour gunbattle that left 10 police dead. A massive search was under way in the hilly, forest areas in and around Lakhisarai.

Maoist spokesman Avinash told local Hindi news channels Saturday that the three policemen were safe and well.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar held an all-party meeting on Saturday to seek a political consensus on the hostage crisis.

Officials are facing mounting pressure after Tete's killing, with families of the policemen demanding that the government take immediate steps to secure their release.

The wife of Mohammad Ehsaan, one of the captive policemen was camping outside Kumar's residence.

'I want my husband to be back home as early as possible. If he does not come back then Nitish Kumar's government will be responsible,' Farida Khatoon told the NDTV network.

More than a third of India's 626 administrative districts are affected by the Maoist insurgency, which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as India's main internal security threat.

In continuing Maoist violence Saturday, the rebels killed three health-care workers and a school teacher in central Chhattisgarh and West Bengal states, the NDTV reported.

According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, 874 people - including civilians, security forces and rebels - were killed in the left-wing insurgency from January to August.

The Maoists claim they are fighting for the rights of tribal, landless and poor people and are active in some of the country's poorest regions.