Maoists set ablaze vehicles in Jharkhand's Ramgarh District

Maoists set ablaze vehicles in Jharkhand's Ramgarh District, instilling fear among villagers.

The driver of the burnt trucks claimed that the rebels were armed.

Around 15 to 20 armed rebels attacked the drivers and set their vehicles on fire in Ramgarh district.

The rebels are rapidly expanding their insurgency and could move from remote rural areas to cities.

A driver, Mahesh Bediya, said: "They were wearing a dress and they were carrying arms. They did not speak to us. The incident took place at around 3.00 a.m."

The Maoist insurgents are estimated to number 7500 hardcore fighters in nearly a third of India's 630 districts. While they have made few inroads into cities, they have spread into rural pockets in 20 of 28 states.

Maoists say they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers. Thousands have been killed in the insurgency since the late 1960s.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Maoist rebellion as one of the gravest security threats to India.