Kalahandi: Two days after the abduction of four villagers including the village guard of Lakhpadar village in Lanjigarh block of Kalahandi district, the Maoists finally released them on Sunday.
The four abducted persons have been identified as Babula Nayak, Raju Nayak, Khetra Harijan(village guard) and Bisikeshan Harijan.
According to reports, 10-12 members of the outlawed outfit had reached the village on Friday afternoon and forcibly took the four with them.
After confining them in the forest for 2 days, the rebels freed them today.
However, the exact reason behind their abduction is still unknown. Sources believe that the red rebels might have kidnapped the villagers suspecting them to be police informers.
As per sources, the Bansadhara-Ghumusura-Nagabali division of the CPI (Maoist) is active in the area.
In another incident, Maoists issued death sermons against five villagers through posters in Dandabadi area under Baipariguda police station of Koraput district on Saturday.
The poster was released in the name of Malkangiri Koraput Vishakhapatnam Border (MKVB) committee of CPI (Maoist), sources said.
The persons whose names feature in the poster include- Anand Nayak from Ratakhand, Pulo Nayak from Dandabadi, Lokiram Barik, Suri Barik and Majhiguda’s Kobrajkida.
Meanwhile, security has been tightened in the area following the incident.