A massive combing operation has been launched by police to secure the release of the two persons and arrest the kidnappers. Police officials here said the two were identified as Hokum Singh of Haryana working as an overseer in the BRO and driver Mohammad Buizul Islam (56) of Aizawl.
Sources said around 10 militants, some of them armed with sophisticated weapons, first abducted 22 people. Later, they released the locals and manual workers, but took the two as hostage. The kidnapping occurred in a remote place between the abandoned anti-poaching camp of the state environment and forests department at Chikha and Tuipuibari village inside the Dampa Tiger Reserve. Senior state police officials said they suspected that the abductors have taken the captives inside the thick jungles of neighbouring Bangladesh.