Raipur: Armed Maoists grilled over a hundred tribals in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday to identify police informers, police sources said.
Dozens of rebels swooped down on Dubbatola village, some 500 km south of here, and questioned the locals.
"The grilling went on for about four hours. The villagers were let off with a stern warning against giving direct or indirect support to the police in the area," a police officer told a news agency over phone from Dantewada.
Dantewada Superintendent of Police Ankit Garg said: "I heard that Maoists held villagers hostage for a few hours, but when police visited the village, all the civilians were found present."
Reacting to some TV channels' reports on villagers being kidnapped, Garg said: "I doubt the story, but Maoists surely had a meeting in the area. They even set a tractor on fire."
IANS
First Published: Thursday, June 16, 2011, 22:28