The oil tanker set on fire by Maoists in Rohtas district on Saturday. Picture by Sanjay Choudhary

Patna, Feb. 5: Suspected Maoists torched an oil tanker and reportedly kidnapped the driver and his helper near Jagodih village under Amour police station in Naxalite-affected Rohtas district in the small hours of Saturday.

Police said around 3.30am, local residents apprised the Amour police station of a blazing oil tanker on Dehri-on-Sone-Rohtas road, about 15km south of Sasaram, the district headquarters of Rohtas.

On reaching the spot, the police team led by deputy superintendent of police (Dehri) Mohammad Ali Ansari failed to locate the driver and his helper. The villagers told the police that they heard a blast around 3am but could not muster the courage to go to the spot, apprehending the presence of Maoists.

Rohtas superintendent of police (SP) Vikas Vaibhav said the role of the driver and the helper in the incident was being probed.

“The Amour station house officer has been asked to trace the driver and his helper at the earliest and record their statements,” he said.

The SP said since the area was Maoist-affected, their involvement in the incident cannot be ruled out. “Intensive raids have been launched on suspected hideouts of the Maoists in the area,” he added.

In 2009, the Maoists had torched 14 trucks, five of them carrying bags of cement from Kalyanpur cement factory godown in the district.

The drivers and their helpers had been dragged out before the vehicles were set ablaze, police said. The entire region is considered to be a bastion of the Naxalites.

But in recent times, police have carried out successful operations and arrested over a dozen Maoist leaders, who had been eluding the police dragnet for long. The police made a breakthrough after arresting a self-styled Maoist area commander Rajgrihi Ram, from Pithiao village last year.