India-Jharkhand-Naxals
In the first ever incident of its kind, the Naxalites of India's Jharkhand state took to the roads on Wednesday in a show of strength. Over 150 armed Naxals demonstrated on Hazaribagh- Vishnugarh road blocking the traffic, later resorting to
indiscriminate firing in which a policeman was killed and two others were injured.

The policemen were going to Ranchi from Giridih to fetch some articles when they came under fire. The policemen also retaliated, zeenews portal reported quoting Additional Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Dewedi.

Jharkhand is one of the worst affected states by Naxals. Leftist extremist groups are "very active" in wide areas of impoverished rural eastern and central India. The Maoists are also thought to be operating in parts of southern India.

"The Government of India is very concerned over the threat from the leftist extremist groups to internal stability and democratic culture."
Hundreds of people were killed in conflicts between the government and various leftist extremist groups, such as Naxalites and the Communist Party of India (Maoists), and also in internecine war.

There were at least 971 Naxalite attacks in the first seven months of 2007 which was approximately equal to that of the entire previous year.

Meanwhile reports received from Raipur district of Chhattisgarh state said, Maoist guerrillas are forcibly recruiting minors in their ranks as child soldiers in large forested areas of Chhattisgarh.

Rebels are conducting a massive drive for child soldiers in their forested hideouts in Chhattisgarh`s Bastar region, which is close to Andhra Pradesh.

Insurgents have been forcibly taking away tribal boys and girls from schools in poverty-stricken hamlets of the Bastar region.

For about two decades, rebels have been running a parallel government in a 40,000 sq km area in Bastar, particularly in Bijapur and Dantewada districts.

The rebels are targeting children in the age group of 12-18 years and are focussing on school dropouts.

The government has set up 23 make-shift relief camps in Bijapur and Dantewada where about 50,000 people, mostly tribals, are living following threats from the Maoists since June 2005 when the anti-Maoist civilian resistance movement Salwa Judum was launched. The movement was later backed by the government.

In 2007, 436 people, including 200 policemen, died in Maoist violence while the toll was 458 in 2006. The majority of deaths were reported from Bijapur and Dantewada districts.