India | Police kill eight Maoist rebels in gunbattle in the southeast

Indian police secure the area of a gunbattle with suspected rebels

Eight Maoist rebels, five of them women, were killed in a fierce gunbattle with police in southeastern India, police said.
The gunbattle with at least 30 rebels began yesterday in a remote forest area bordering Chhattisgarh and Telangana states, said police superintendent Shahnawaz Qasim. Police had started searching for the rebels after receiving a tip that they were seen moving around in the area.
Eight bodies were recovered and police were looking for other rebels who belong to the Communist Party of India (Maoist), he said.
Among those killed was a leader of the party, identified by police as Hari Bhushan, from Telangana.
Police suffered no casualties.
The rebels have been fighting for more than three decades in central and eastern India to demand a greater share of the region’s natural resources for indigenous people. They have been relatively quiet over the past six months.
The rebels say they are inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong. The Indian government says the rebels are the country’s most serious internal security threat. India’s home ministry says the rebels are active in 20 of India’s 29 states. AP