Sukma: The hostage-taking incident in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district has ended. One hostage was killed, while others were set free by the Maoists after abducting nearly 250 people on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to neighbouring Dantewada.
Unspecified number of Maoist guerrillas had swooped down on Marenga and some adjoining villages within the Tongpal police stations limits and herded the villagers to the nearby forest.
At least 250 villagers were taken hostage by the Maoists in Sukma earlier today. The villagers were working on a bridge construction project when the Maoists came and asked them to stop the work.
The villagers and some workers of a private construction company were taken to an undisclosed location deep inside the forest.
As per reports, the villagers held hostage were scheduled to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s public meeting held in the neighbouring Dantewada district but were rounded up before it.
The Maoists have been opposing construction of a bridge on a river near Marenga village that they apprehended would facilitate increased mobility of security forces during operations against them.
The Maoists, who have called for a boycott of the Prime Minister's visit and a 'Dandakaranya Bandh' yesterday and today, went on rampage in several parts of Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Bastar region, damaging rail tracks on Kirandul-Visakhapatnam route and blocking roads.
Naxals removed fish-plates between Kakloor-Kumarsakhla villages in Kodenar police station limits in Bastar district late last night, Police said.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi had affirmed his government`s commitment to fight the Naxal menace and said that only a plough on the shoulders can bring development, not guns.
(With agency inputs)
