Naxals kidnap 2 engineers in Gadchiroli

Nagpur, July 20 (UNI) Suspected Naxalites have kidnapped two engineers of a private sector steel company in Gadchiroli district in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, the police said today.

According to the police, the two engineers, identified as S K Sharma and L V Raghuse, working for the Wardha-based Lloyds Metals, were kidnapped while they were conducting a survey for the company's proposed steel plant on a hill in the dense forests in Etapalli tehsil of the district last evening.

Other employees of the company, several labourers and staff from the Forest Department were assisting in the survey work, the police said.

A group of about 30 armed Naxalites, including six women, reached the survey site last afternoon and surrounded the men working there, saying they were causing pollution in the area. They beat up some of the workers and torched two vehicles parked there, the police said.

The Naxalites held the men captive for over three hours, and released all of them except Mr Sharma and Mr Raghuse late in the evening, they said, adding that the two engineers have not been traceable since. The released men lodged a complaint with the police late last night.

Gadchiroli district superintendent of police Rajesh Pradhan had rushed to the spot this morning and several police squads had been deployed in the jungle to look for the kidnapped men. There had been no word from the kidnappers since the incident, the police said.

UNI