Maoists hijack bus, set it ablaze

Maoists hijacked a bus carrying over 60 people and set it ablaze after allowing the passengers to disembark on Monday at a place on Orissa-Andhra Pradesh border, police said here.
    
The bus was travelling from Jeypore in Koraput district of Orissa to Bhadrachalam in Andhra Pradesh via Malkangiri when the Maoists stopped it and ordered the passengers to alight at a place between Chitrakonda and Sileru.
    
The ultras then drove the vehicle into a forest under Sileru police station of Andhra Pradesh, barely 8 km from Chitrakonda in Malkangiri district, and set it ablaze.
    
None of the passengers or staff of the bus was harmed, the police said.
    
Malkangiri district collector Nitin Bhanudas Jawale said as most of the passengers hailed from Orissa immediate steps were taken by the administration to bring them back safely.
    
A team of senior officials were sent to the site to make arrangements for safe return of the passengers, he said.