Maoists have a presence across large parts of India Sixteen people have been killed by suspected Maoist rebels in a village in the Indian state of Bihar, police say. The attack took place in Icharwa village in Khagaria district, 200km (124 miles) from the state capital, Patna, late on Thursday night. A survivor, whose son was among the dead, told the BBC that the attackers tied up 16 people and shot them. Correspondents say that this is the first major Maoist attack in the state for some time. More than 6,000 people have been killed during their 20-year fight for a communist state. The Maoists say they are fighting for the rights of the poor and landless. But the survivor of this attack told the BBC that this dispute was over the cultivation of farmland in the area. 'Fell down' Paro Singh told the BBC Hindi service that about 10 people armed with automatic weapons launched an attack. "We were 17 of us. When they fired at us, I wasn't hit, but I fell down on the ground and pretended to be dead. They shot dead all the others, including my son," he said. Mr Singh said the attackers were rebels from nearby villages. The dead included five children, senior police official Neelmani told the BBC. The victims were low-caste farmers and labourers, he said. This is the first major attack in Bihar for a long time, the BBC Hindi's Manikant Thakur in Patna says. The rebels were not active in this area before but have recently extended their area of operation to cover these parts, our correspondent says. The Maoists operate in large parts of central and eastern India and officials say they are active in a third of all Indian districts. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called the Maoist insurgency the single biggest threat to India's security. Last month, Mr Singh said India was losing the battle against the rebels. Have you been affected by the Maoist insurgency? Send us your accounts using the form below. Name
Your E-mail address
Town & Country
Phone number (optional):
Comments
The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide.
Terms & Conditions
Bookmark with: Delicious
Digg
reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version
India showing Bihar, the state where the killing occurred
Maoists attempting to seize land in one of India's poorest communities are being blamed for the execution-style killings of at least sixteen villagers, including children, in the eastern part of the country.

Authorities in the state of Bihar say heavily-armed rebels fired on a makeshift camp at midnight, pulled sleeping villagers out of huts, tied their hands and feet and then executed them. Police say most of those killed were teenagers but five children are also among the dead. 

Paro Sinh, a witness to the attacks, described his experiences to the BBC; "We were sic seventeen of us. When they fired at us, I wasn't hit, but I fell down on the ground and pretended to be dead. They shot dead all the others, including my son".

Media reports say the area has been the site of an inter-caste feud and that the victims were trying to protect six-and-a-half hectares of cultivated land the rebels are trying to seize. 

Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, said additional forces have been sent into the area, about 200 kilometers north of the state capital, Patna, to catch the suspects.

The state's chief minister said violence has no place in society and compensation of approximately US$ 3,000 will be given to the families of each victim.

A private television station said one of its reporters received a mobile phone text message from a Maoist leader, identified as Dabloo, threatening to kill Kumar if two top rebel leaders are not released from jail. Police are taking the threat seriously and have tightened security for the chief minister, a state official said. 

One person has already been arrested in connection with the incident. State's director general of police Anand Shankar said, "we have arrested one farmer and are interrogating him to nab the others involved. We will track down all of the perpetrators of this heinous crime. The incident has triggered panic among residents of Bihar," he told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

The Maoists rebels, known as Naxalites, have been waging a violent campaign in several Indian states for decades, demanding land reform and more rural jobs for the poor.

A massacre of underclass villagers, however, is unusual. The rebels typically target government officials, police and others accused of helping wealthy landlords exploit the poor. 

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently called the Maoist insurgency the single biggest domestic security threat facing the country. 

The country's air chief marshall, Pradeep Vasant Naik, told reporters on Thursday that the Air Force is seeking permission from the Defense Ministry to return fire when its aircraft are targeted by the Maoists. Several Air Force helicopters have been shot at by the rebels during the past year. 

India's military is not directly involved in the counter-insurgency but is providing logistical, surveillance and intelligence support to para-military and police forces fighting the Maoists.