Raipur, Jan 29 : After keeping them in captivity for four days, Maoist militants in Chhattisgarh released two tribal Special Police Officers (SPOs)from their custody Monday in the southern district of Bijapur.
"Both the SPOs, males in their late 20s, were set free by the leftist extremists today, they are unharmed but highly terrorised," Ankit Garg, Bijapur district superintendent of police, told IANS.
He added that the two men were released in a forested area of Gangloor in Bijapur district in Bastar region, some 440 km south of capital Raipur, from where they were abducted Jan 24.
"The SPOs were released only after they committed to the rebels that they would not assist police force in the future anti-Maoist operations," a local police officer said.
The Chhattisgarh government has recruited about 4,500 local youths, mainly tribals, as SPOs in the worst insurgency affected districts of Bijapur and its adjoining Dantewada. The main responsibility of the SPOs is to assist the police force to dismantle rebels' terror network at grass root level.
IANS