Spate of kidnappings in Assam, civil engineer abducted by NDFB

Assam saw a spate of abductions over the weekend. While a civil engineer was kidnapped by suspected militants of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), another abducted engineer was rescued and security forces foiled an attempt to kidnap a third engineer.

Two kidnapped forest guards were also released after they were severely beaten up.

A police spokesperson said Anchal Modi, a 25-year-old civil engineer working for construction firm Bharatiya Associates, was kidnapped by suspected NDFB militants from near Pasighat in the adjoining state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Bharatiya Associates was engaged in construction work of the Bogibeel Bridge over Brahmaputra River in Dhemaji district in eastern Assam where Modi was a project manager.

"Modi had gone for sightseeing to Pasighat Saturday when about seven to eight NDFB militants kidnapped him. We suspect the militants trailed Modi from the construction site to Pasighat," a police official said.

Although no details were available, police suspect the engineer was kidnapped for ransom.

Security forces, however, managed to foil a separate attempt by NDFB militants to abduct railway chief engineer R. Ram from near Koithalkuchi in Nalbari district Saturday.

"The chief engineer was inspecting railway tracks in the area when we got information that there was an attempt planned to kidnap him. We managed to foil the kidnap bid before the NDFB militants could reach the spot," the official said.

In a separate incident, two forest guards of the Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary in Sonitpur district were kidnapped by NDFB militants Saturday although both were released a few hours later.

"The militants, however, took away their service rifles and radio sets before severely assaulting the two and leaving them by the roadside," the official said.

In yet another incident Saturday, an Assam government engineer was kidnapped by suspected militants of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) from Tangla in Udalguri district in north Assam.

Nur Mohammed, an engineer with the irrigation department, was kidnapped at gunpoint as he was returning after inspecting a project site.

"The ULFA militants demanded money from Mohammed and when he refused to pay he was kidnapped," the official said.

Based on specific intelligence, security forces managed to rescue Mohammed in the evening from a nearby village.

"The ULFA militants fled on seeing a security team which arrived in the village based on specific information. We rescued Mohammed although the abductors took away his mobile phone and other things," the official said.

Meanwhile, the whereabouts of Andhra Pradesh engineer P. Krishna Rao, project manager of Gayatri Construction Company, who was kidnapped by NDFB militants three weeks back, was still not known. He was abducted from near the National Highway construction site in Kokrajhar district.

Last updated on Nov 1^st, 2009 at 10:40 am IST--IANS