12 Maoists gunned down in Jharkhand

Security forces gunned down 12 suspected CPI (Maoist) rebels in a major strike in Jharkhand's Palamu district on Monday night. Security forces have managed to retrieve the bodies as well as arms and ammunition after the gunfight that is being considered as a major breakthrough in the ongoing anti-Maoist operation in the tribal-dominated state. In the last three years, forces have captured or killed more than 50 armed Maoist cadres and leaders. Left wing violence has claimed more than 1,200 lives in the state since 2000.