Kokrajhar (Assam) Nov 17 : Krishna Rao, the engineer from Andhra Pradesh, who was abducted on October 16, was released in Karigaon in Kokrajhar District of Assam this morning.

Rao was released at 9.15 a. m. He is safe. Further details are awaited.

Rao was kidnapped by suspected militants of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) from a road construction site in Kokrajhar district.

Rao works as a project manager with a Hyderabad-based construction company. The NDFB is among more than two dozen armed groups in northeast which are either fighting for an independent homeland or more political autonomy.

They accuse New Delhi of plundering the region''s mineral and forest resources, neglecting the local economy and giving them back nothing in return. (ANI)