Police guns down five Maoists in Bastar forests
Dated 17/9/2006
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Police in the insurgency hit Bastar region of Chhattisgarh killed at least five Maoist rebels in a lengthy gun battle, officers said on Sunday.
Police opened fire on dozens of guerrillas as they met in forests in Kanker district, 225 km southwest of the state capital, Raipur, late on Saturday.
"We fired over 100 rounds on the Maoists in a 30-minute encounter ... at least five rebels were killed, including a divisional commander," the district's police chief, Pradeep Gupta, told Reuters.
Chhattisgarh is among the worst affected of 13 Indian states hit by the Maoist insurgency. Officials say at least 260 people have been killed in rebel violence in the state since January, mostly poor tribals.
India's Maoists, who hold sway over vast rural swathes of eastern, central and southern India, say they are fighting for the rights of poor peasants and landless labourers.