Maoists kill five farmers in Chhattisgarh

Maoist guerrillas have killed five tribal farmers in Chhattisgarh for allegedly defying a Maoist fiat not to cultivate crops in this monsoon season, police said on Wednesday.

More than 50 armed leftists swooped on Mallapara village in Bijapur district late on Tuesday and slit the throat of the farmers when they were working in a rice field, Bijapur district Superintendent of Police Ratanlal Dangi told IANS.

In another incident, Maoists hacked to death a 30-year-old tribal farmer on Tuesday at Jangla in a remote part of Bijapur district on Tuesday.

"All the five farmers were killed because they defied a Maoist order telling the farmers in Bastar region to stay away from cultivation," Dangi said.

The region, spread over the five districts of Narayanpur, Bijapur, Dantewada, Bastar and Kanker, usually has a good paddy yield in the monsoon season.