Naxals kidnap panchayat member in Chhattisgarh

A panchayat member was abducted by Naxals in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh today, police said.

Panchayat member Bhothraj Sodi was abducted this morning by Naxals when he came out of a local church after attending a programme in Usur police station jurisdiction in Bijapur district, additional SP of the district, BPS Rajbhanu told PTI.

A police force has been sent to the area following the incident and search for the Naxals involved in kidnapping the panchayat member was on, he said.

Rajbhanu said that in an another development, unconfirmed reports said that five would be Special Police Officers (SPO) were also kidnapped by Naxals in Awapalli area of Bijapur district yesterday.

However, no police complaint has been lodged in this connection so far, the officer said, adding that police got the information from local media that five youths going to be SPOs were abducted by Naxals.

He said the police were trying to ascertain about the incident."We are trying to get in touch with the relatives of those said to be abducted and get information about them," he said. \