Maoists Rebels Kill 3 Persons E. Indian state

Armed rebels "Maoists" brutally killed three persons in India''s eastern state of Jharkhand, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported on Monday. The Indian news agency said that the rebels beheaded one, crushed another''s head with a stone, and shot dead a person whom they believed was a police informer and passed on information about their movement in the area. The killings took place in the state''s Khunti district, PTI noted. It quoted a senior police officer as saying that as many as three Maoists barged into the house of a villager, who they believed to be a police informer and shot him dead. It further stated that after beheading one person, the Maoists took his head away to a market place. They left a note beside the headless body claiming that the dead man was involved in murder, rape and robbery in the area, and that others like him would also meet the same fate. Maoists also crushed the head of an unidentified man, the police official quoted as saying. The ''Maoists'' are armed rebels active in several Indian states, including Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Claiming to be fighting for landless labourers, they particularly target policemen, security personnel, government installations and buildings. The main contention of the Maoists is that while the Government exploits the natural resources from these states, it turns a blind eye to the state''s development and does least for the landless labourers.