Bhagalpur, Dec. 31: The bodies of four persons, who were abducted by Maoist guerrillas in Jamui yesterday, were found this morning on the outskirts of Tihar village in Banka district.

The rebels had whisked away the four after killing a retired coal miner and two of his sons at Kanudi village under Simultala police station in Jamui district yesterday. The abducted persons were identified as Mansoor Ansari, his brother, Kallu, Sahadat and Karim.

Police said some residents of Tihar saw the four bullet-riddled bodies early in the morning on the outskirts of the village near the border of Simultala and Katoria block in Banka. After yesterday’s raid at Kanudi, the rebels had fled towards Katoria via Kushbaha forest and the Jaridehi hills.

On learning the news, a police team from Jamui rushed to the spot. Jamui superintendent of police Ram Narayan Singh said the cops found some Maoist posters and pamphlets near the four bodies. He added: “The pamphlets read that the four persons were punished because of their illegal activities. The bodies were brought to Jamui and handed to their kin after autopsy.”

Avinash, who identified himself as the spokesperson of the Jamui-Bhagalpur zone of the CPI(Maoist), said: “We have identified a list of villagers who commit petty crime by using the name of our organisation. Mansoor was one of them. Our members had raided the village yesterday to catch him. He was wanted both by the police and our group.”

The Maoist leader, however, remained silent when asked why the rebels killed Mumtaz Ansari (70) and his two sons Faquiruddin (35) and Samim (28), who worked in New Delhi and were not associated with any unlawful activities. Faquiruddin and Samim had come to Kanudi on a vacation.