Ranchi: Suspected Maoists abducted five people in Jharkhand's Giridih district but later freed the driver of their vehicle, police said Saturday.

Three of the victims are members of the Prime Minister Rural Development Fellowship programme.

The abduction took place in Navkania village, around 300 km from Ranchi.

"We have launched an operation to free the abducted people," Kranti Kumar, the superintendent of police of Giridih, told IANS over telephone.