Maoists kill three in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR - Maoists hacked to death three civilians they termed “police informers” in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district Sunday, a police officer said.

The villagers were abducted by armed Maoists Saturday from a remote area of the district, Bhopalpattanam, 550 km south from here, where their bodies were found at a roadside Sunday. As per Maoists’ leaflets found with the bodies, rebels accused them of police informers.

Meanwhile, a joint team of Border Security Force (BSF) and local police defused three powerful bombs on a road in Kanker district of the restive Bastar region.

Officials here at police headquarters claim that bombs were planted to target the joint team that had gone out on a search. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) too defused a powerful bomb on national highway 221 between Sukma-Konta stretch in Dantewada district.

In only past three months, the state has witnessed killings of 150 people, mostly security personnel.