Authorities in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh say Maoist rebels have killed three tribes people on suspicion that they were police informers.
By Faisal Mohammed Ali
BBC News, Bhopal
The police said the rebels killed the men in Cherli village, some 415km (257 miles) from the capital, Raipur.
Residents have begun abandoning the village for government-run shelters out of fear, eyewitnesses told the BBC.
Maoists say they are fighting for more rights for indigenous people in at least five Indian states.
A senior police official said that the rebels entered Cherli late on Tuesday night and killed the three men after questioning them about their alleged links with the police.
The villagers have begun moving to government-run camps for villagers who have been affected by rebel attacks.
The government set up the camps after the authorities launched an operation against the rebels whom they accuse of killing and kidnapping villagers.
The police say there are more than 20,000 people, mostly tribes people, living in the camps.
Maoist rebels have attacked one such camp recently in which eight people were killed.
Chhattisgarh Interior Minister Ram Vichar Netam has said that the security in the state is hampered by a shortage of policemen.
The Maoists have a strong presence in eight of 16 districts of the state.
Thousands have died in Maoist campaigns across central and southern India in the past 30 years.
The rebels are pressing for the creation of a communist state comprising tribal areas in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Bihar and Chhattisgarh.
The Indian government believes that there may be 10,000 armed Maoist rebels in India, correspondents say.