Kirandul (Chhattisgarh), Jan.27 (ANI): Maoists torched 19 vehicles including trucks and excavators in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district in the wee hours of Wednesday.

All the torched four-wheeler vehicles were a part of a project of the National Mineral Development Corporation in Kirandul area of the district.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described Maoists as one of the gravest threats to the country’s security.

The rebels have ignored repeated calls to renounce violence and negotiate, and have stepped up their attacks in recent past months, prompting the government to go after them in a concerted strike.

The Maoist rebellion began four decades ago championing the cause of poor peasants in the Naxalbari area of West Bengal and today it has now spread to about 20 of India’s 29 states, with the rebels targeting police and government property in hit-and-run attacks.

The Maoists are armed with sophisticated arms and ammunition, assault rifles and even communication tools.

Thousands have been killed in the Maoist insurgency, which began in the late 1960s. (ANI)