Naxals target private bus in Chhattisgarh; all passengers safe

Naxals intercepted a private bus in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh and evacuated all the 22 passengers on board before abandoning it near a village there, police said today.

The incident occurred late last night when a group of Maoists stopped the bus belonging to Tomar Travels near Mardadand village under Basaguda police limts and fled with the vehicle, Bijapur police officials told PTI.

All the passengers are safe and unharmed, they said.

Both the driver and conductor of the bus, which was ferrying passengers from Jagdalpur (in Bastar district) to Basaguda were threatened to leave the vehicle, which was targeted 15 kms short of the village, police said.

The bus was later recovered from a spot near the village.

Additional police force was rushed to the spot after the duo informed the bus owner and the police about the incident, they said adding further investigations are on.