By IANS
Ranchi : Four Maoist rebels were killed in Lohardagga district of Jharkhand in a gun battle with security personnel even as police registered a first information report (FIR) against 10 Maoist rebels for Saturday’s massacre in which 17 people were killed.
The four rebels were shot down near Bijubathan village, 110 km from here, Sunday night. They were involved in the killing of five people in Boda village of Lathear district Saturday night, police said.
Meanwhile, the police have named 10 Maoist rebels, including Jeetan Marandi who is an ‘area commander’ of the Communist Party of India-Maoist, as accused in the killing of 17 people, including Anup Marandi, son of former chief minister Babulal Marandi, Saturday.
The police have launched an intensive combing operation in the area along the Jharkhand-Bihar border. Fifteen companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been engaged in the combing operation.
Maoist rebels are active in 16 of the 22 districts of the state. Nearly 950 people, including 310 security personnel, have been killed in last six years in radical leftwing violence in the state.