Nine rebels killed in gunbattle with Indian police

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

New Delhi - At least nine Maoist rebels were killed Friday in a firefight with police in India's eastern state of Jharkhand, officials said.

Police raided a rebel hideout inside the Barwadih jungles some 100 kilometers west of state capital Ranchi late Thursday.

"The gunbattle lasted for over five hours and ended early in the morning," district police chief Kuldeep Dwivedi told reporters.

"We have recovered nine bodies of the insurgents along with a huge quantity of arms and ammunition," he added. No policemen were injured in the encounter, he said.

More than one-third of India's 626 administrative districts are affected by the insurgency, which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as the main internal security threat.

The rebels claim they are fighting for the rights of tribal, landless and poor people.

At least 1,174 rebels, troops and civilians were killed in incidents related to the insurgency in 2010, making it one of the deadliest years in the four-decade old rebellion in India.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364678,killed-gunbattle-indian-police.html.