KATHMANDU, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Armed activists have abducted an education officer of Saptari district, some 190 km southeast of Kathmandu, local newspaper The Himalayan Times said Sunday.

    The officer, Nibh Raj Joshi, was taken away from his residence early morning Saturday, according to police office of Saptari district. The district coordinator of the JTMM (Terai Democratic Liberation Front in English) fraction led by Jay Krishna Goit has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

    The whereabouts of Joshi were unknown and a search for the abductors was on, said the report. The motive was unknown.

    The JTMM fraction led by Goit is an armed group involved in violent struggle in Southern Nepali Terai plains with the demands for a separate state for Madhesi people, the people living in southern Nepal mostly with Indian origin. JTMM has been carrying out armed struggles, sporadic abductions, killings and attacks on police posts.