Cop's body found, Maoists threaten to kill three more

The body of an Indian police officer executed by Maoist rebels has been found in the eastern state of Bihar, as the guerrillas threaten to kill three other captured police unless seven of their members are freed from jail. On Thursday, the Maoists claimed they had executed another captive, Kumar Yadav, a sub-inspector, after trying him in a "people's court" but police denied that he was dead.

Reuters

Police announced Friday that they had recovered the body of police officer Lucas Tete in an isolated forest about 150 kilometres from the state capital Patna.

"We will kill the three other policemen and send their bodies soon," read a hand-written note found near the body,

On Thursday a Maoist spokesperson declared that they had killed Yadav and threatened to kill the other three on Friday morning if their demand was not met.

Bihar police chief Neelmani denied that Yadav had been murdered, telling reporters: "All four abducted policemen are safe."

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, widely credited with improving the fortunes of deeply deprived Bihar, is seen as having a different approach to tackling India's Maoist threat.

Kumar has favoured dialogue and development over a hardline strategy of trying to crush the rebel movement, which has been described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as India's biggest internal security threat.

Authorities in New Delhi launched a major offensive last year to tackle the worsening insurgency, but since then the Maoists have hit back with repeated strikes against police and paramilitary forces.

The police officers were abducted during a raid on Sunday that left 10 other officers dead.