Maoists kidnap sarpanch

Srikakulam, Sep 11 (UNI) Maoists today kidnapped S Ananda Rao, Sarpanch of Battili Major Panchayat in this naxal-dominated district.

According to police, Maoists intercepted a bus, in which Rao was coming back to his village from a pilgrimage to Tirupati, at a point between Sitampet and Kotturu.

Some persons who boarded the bus at Vizianagaram halted it by threatening the driver with weapons and kidnapped the sarpanch, police added.

The bus driver and conductor, who made a complaint to the police said the sarpanch was taken towards the hills.

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