Police said that around 60 armed maoists set on fire at least six trucks loaded with iron ore for Essar Steel in Chhattisgarh violence-hit Dantewada district early Saturday.

'Maoists came out of forests around midnight and stopped six trucks between Bhansi and Bacheli and set them on fire,'

Mr SRP Kalluri Dantewada senior superintendent of police told IANS that the attack site is located some 420 km south of capital Raipur and within 2 km from Bacheli, a major iron ore mining facility of India's top iron ore producer in public sector NMDC Ltd.

Mr Kalluri said that “The trucks that were burnt belonged to private contractors. The trucks were carrying iron ore for Essar Steel. The road was opened for vehicular traffic around 6 AM. The overnight act of Maoists was a planned move to terrorize people in Bastar ahead of Independence Day celebrations.”

The guerrillas announced a call to boycott Sunday's Independence Day function. They felled trees on the hilly road to prevent security forces from reaching the site.

(Sourced from IANS)