Indian Maoists kill 15 civilians

The guerrillas abducted around 60 people from Dandewada district, 450km from Raipur, capital of Chhattisgarh state Tuesday.

Two of the hostages were found dead two days later and on Saturday "we recovered 13 bodies from the deep forests near a village where they appeared to have been abducted," director-general of police O.P. Rathore told AFP.

The Maoists had released the remaining hostages, he said from the site of the mass slaying.

"So far we have the information that about 37 people have been freed but we are awaiting details about their condition," he said.

"The released villagers are in a state of shock and are unable to narrate any of their experiences while in captivity," another official, who asked not to be named, said in Dandewada where the rebels run a parallel administration.

Another eight -- three men and five women -- had fled their captives and had alerted police about the kidnappings, the Press Trust of India reported.

The victims were part of a government-sponsored peace campaign whose members are facing increasing rebel attacks.

Police said the guerrillas, who claim to be fighting for the rights of neglected tribes and landless farmers, regularly kidnap people as a terror tactic.