Six Maoists killed in gun battle in India

PATNA: Six Maoist rebels were killed on Saturday in a gun battle in India's eastern state of Bihar, a top state police official said.

The Maoist movement, which Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as India's biggest security threat, is active in the country's largely poor, rural areas, and its violence in India's mineral-rich areas has worried investors.

The government has stepped up its offensive against them, but the security risk remains from the movement, which has disrupted mining and rail networks.

Thousands have been killed in the movement, which began as a peasant revolt in eastern India in 1967. The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of the poor and the disenfranchised.

Neelmani, director general of police in Bihar, said the police has arrested one Maoist rebel as well.