Raipur: Maoist rebels on Saturday released 25 tribal villagers after killing 15 others in Chhattisgarh, police said.
The rebels had kidnapped a group of 40 villagers, part of a government-backed anti-Maoist group, earlier this week. Earlier on Saturday, police in Chhattisgarh discovered the bodies of 13 hostages.
"The bodies had multiple wounds and rebels killed them by slitting their throats," senior police officer Praveer Das said.
The bodies were found deep in the forest, around 20 km from a government-run relief camp which was near the spot where the group had been taken hostage at gunpoint in revolt-hit Dantewada district. Police in Chhattisgarh found the two other bodies on Friday.
Police said the 25 were released near Dornpal relief camp, some 550 km south of Raipur.
"They are unharmed but in a state of shock," senior police officer SK Paswan said.
The incidents in Chhattisgarh are the latest in a series in the dozen or so states where Maoist guerrillas operate.
Maoist rebels, who claim to fight for India's poor peasants and landless labourers, often target villagers who support the security forces.
The rebel campaign -- being fought across huge swathes of southern, central and eastern India -- has killed at least 135 people, mostly civilians, in Chhattisgarh since January including the latest fatalities.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the Maoists were the biggest threat to India's internal security.
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