Armed rebels abduct BDO

OUR BUREAU

A police sniffer dog at the Dalbhumgarh BDO office on Saturday. Picture by Srinivas
Dalbhumgarh, Feb. 13: Four Maoists, hiding AK-47s in gamchas, abducted a BDO today in the presence of over 200 people, including some policemen, around the same time chief minister Shibu Soren was presiding over public functions in Jamshedpur, some 65km away.

Prashant Kumar Layek (34), the BDO of Dalbhumgarh under Ghatshila sub-division of East Singhbhum district, had just about wrapped up a lok adalat that was being held inside his office compound when four Maoists who were waiting outside struck.

At 1.10pm, when Layek entered his office, two of the four Maoists slipped in from behind and accosted him.

They assaulted him with the butt of their rifles and forced him on one of the bikes and sped away.

Over 200 people had attended the lok adalat and were in the process of dispersing when the rebels struck.

“It all happened very fast. Layek was forced to sit on one of the motorcycles after the Naxalites assaulted him with the butt of their rifles,” said an eyewitness, too scared to reveal his identity.

Another eyewitness claimed the rebels also used the rear exit to take away Layek, who lives with his family in Ghatshila and had been posted to Dalbhumgarh around six months ago.

“They also left behind one of their gamchas,” he added.

The police later shut the office, but before that took sniffer dogs inside the BDO’s chamber where the red cotton towel had been left behind.

Today’s audacious rebel strike comes at a time when the Centre has announced preparations for a joint anti-Naxalite operation between Bengal and Jharkhand and days after the appointment of a new superintendent of police for rural areas of the district.

Chief minister Shibu Soren on his return to Ranchi, met officials to discuss ways and means of securing Layek’s release. Chief secretary Shiv Basant, home secretary J.B. Tubid and DGP Neyaz Ahmed were among those present at the meeting.

Soren also spoke to Layek’s wife over telephone and assured her that his government was taking all possible steps to secure the immediate release of the officer.

Meanwhile, the police have launched a massive combing operation. Zonal IG Rezi Dung Dung, DIG (Kolhan) Manoj Kumar Mishra, district police superintendent Navin Kumar Singh, SP (rural) Ranjeet Kumar Prasad have reached Dalbhumgarh to co-ordinate the search.

DIG Mishra told The Telegraph that the search party included paramilitary forces. “A massive combing operation is underway to trace the BDO. Sniffer dogs have also been pressed into service,” he said.

However, the police appeared to have little clue about Layek’s fate. “We have no information about where the BDO has been taken. We are combing the area,” said Navin Kumar Singh, police superintendent of East Singhbhum.

Intelligence sources indicated that the BDO may have been taken to Ghurabandha, about 20km from Dalbhumgarh. The location is densely forested and is close to the Orissa border.