Indian police have shot and killed 12 people, including three children, at a security checkpoint in the jungles of Jharkand.
The security forces opened fire on a vehicle approaching a checkpoint, which was established after the police received a tip-off that CPI (Maoist) rebels were planning to extort money from local miners.
Police said the dead wore the olive green uniforms of the Maoist rebels and were armed.
“There were three children, aged 14-15 years, among those killed in the encounter,” Director General of Police Jharkhand, DK Pandey said. “They are poisoning innocent minds.”
Several armed groups, including the CPI (M) say they are fighting for communist rule and greater rights for tribal people and the rural poor. Locals accuse the government of exploiting the region's natural resources, forcibly displacing and neglecting the tribes and villagers who inhabit the area.
Indian troop deaths in Maoist ambush (04 June 2015)