Maoists abduct US varsity researcher

An American university researcher was abducted along with a local in Bihar's Jamui district by suspected Maoists, police said on Thursday.

Juhi Tyagi, in her mid 20s, a sociology research fellow at Stony Brook University in New York, was on a visit to the rural areas of Jamui in connection with her research on Maoist problems in India, they said.

Jamui Superintendent of Police Ram Narain Singh said that Tyagi, a resident of Bengaluru, had been missing for the last two days along with a local, Pradeep Das.

"Maoists abducted them from Nawada area under Kowakol police station and informed the family members of Das about it," he said.

The two were meeting some villagers, suspected to be Maoist sympathisers, he said.

Tyagi arrived in Jamui on June 15. She had visited the district earlier also.

Jamui is considered to be a stronghold of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist.