Thaindian News

(Lead)

Ranchi, April 8 (IANS) Maoist guerrillas killed eight people including two women and a child in Jharkhand’s Gumla district Tuesday and set on fire the vehicle they were travelling in, the police said. The victims were passing through a jungle in Gumla, around 170 km from the state capital here, when they were attacked.

“In the ambush, all eight people sustained bullet injuries. The Maoist rebels then set the vehicle on fire,” said R.K. Mallik, spokesperson of Jharkhand police.

All eight were members of Shanti Sena, a group formed to counter Maoist guerrillas.

According to the police, ten people including three women and two children were travelling in the jeep.

One injured woman and one critically injured child has been admitted to a hospital for treatment. Of the eight killed, two are women and one is a child.

The guerrillas then escaped into the jungle.

Later, there was a gunfight between security forces and Maoists in the area, following which the police claimed to have killed two rebels.

Maoist guerrillas are active in 18 of the state’s 24 districts. In the last seven years since Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar, over 1,000 people, including civilians and Maoists, have been killed.