Maoist rebels have kidnapped two Italian tourists in poverty-hit eastern India, police said Sunday, in what was believed to be the first abduction of foreigners by the left-wing militants.
Television reports said the kidnappers issued 13 demands for the release of the Italians, including asking police to release an unspecified number of prisoners and end their drive to root out Maoists from the region.
The abduction occurred Wednesday in the scenic Kandhamal district in central Orissa, police said, one of a string of states where armed Maoist rebels have been waging a decades-long battle to overthrow government authorities.
“Maoists have abducted two Italian nationals from Daringbadi area of Kandhamal district,” regional police deputy inspector general Radha Krishna Sharma told AFP.
The Italian foreign office in Rome identified the kidnap victims as Paolo Bosusco and Claudio Colangelo.
Bosusco had been living in the city of Puri in Orissa for a decade and was running an adventure tourism company, police said.
Sharma said the men asked police Monday to be allowed to travel around Kandhamal, but authorities denied permission, citing risks of Maoist violence.
