Naxalites torch vehicles engaged in road construction

A group of Naxalites set on fire six vehicles and machines engaged in road construction work in the insurgency-hit Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, police said on Thursday.

The incident took place on Wednesday night at Dhanikorta village in Kukanar police station limits where a road is being built, Sukma Superintendent of Police Shalabh Sinha said.

According to preliminary information, a group of Maoists reached the village, located around 450 km from Raipur, and set ablaze three trucks, two JCBs and a machine parked there, Sinha said.

All the vehicles and machines belonged to a contractor, he said.

Despite being advised to park the vehicles and machines at a police camp near the construction site after completing work for the day, the contractor left them in the village, the official said.