Seven policemen, including one sub-inspector, have allegedly been abducted by Maoist rebels in two separate incidents in the rebel stronghold of South Bastar in Chhattisgarh, the police said on Monday.
Bodies of three of them were found in Depla forest in Bijapur district on Monday morning.
According to the police, six policemen, including one sub-inspector, one head constables and four constables, were abducted by a group of armed Maoists while they were going to Bhadrakali police station from Bhopalpatnam police station in three motorcyles on Sunday evening.
A search party of CRPF, district force (DF) and special police officers (SPOs) of Chhattisgarh police immediately rushed to the area to rescue them.
The team, however, slowed down its search operation after receiving reports on recovery of three bodies on the bank of Chinta river between Bhopalpatnam and Tarlaguda, fearing a rebel trap in the area, the police said.
Ultras usually plant landmines near the bodies of security personnel after killing them to woo the search team to walk into the trap.
"Bodies of three kidnapped police men were found at a place between Bhopalpatnam and Bhadrakali. The search team was moving into the area to recover the bodies and rescue other abducted policemen. I am going to undertake an aerial view of the area," Bastar Range Inspector General of Police (IGP) T.J. Longkumar told this newspaper.
The deceased have been identified as Subhas Patra, Narendra Bhosalre and Sukhram Singh.
Other policemen who were yet to be traced are Oberam Tirkey, B. Toppo and Nandlal Kaushal.
"No organisation or individual has so claimed responsibility for abduction and killing of the policemen. We have not been contacted by anybody so far to place his demand to secure the release of the three kidnapped security personnel," a senior police officer here said.
In another incident, one constable Dulluram Sodhi, posted at Bhadrakali police station, went missing on Saturday when he was on his way to Bhopalpatnam for treatment.
The police suspects that the constable was also abducted by the ultras.
EOM/