A group of Naxalites set on fire six vehicles and machines engaged in road construction work in the insurgency-hit Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, police said on Thursday.
The incident took place on Wednesday night at Dhanikorta village in Kukanar police station limits where a road is being built, Sukma Superintendent of Police Shalabh Sinha said.
According to preliminary information, a group of Maoists reached the village, located around 450 km from Raipur, and set ablaze three trucks, two JCBs and a machine parked there, Sinha said.
All the vehicles and machines belonged to a contractor, he said.
Despite being advised to park the vehicles and machines at a police camp near the construction site after completing work for the day, the contractor left them in the village, the official said.
Security personnel on Thursday launched a search operation in the area.
Naxalites have frequently tried to disrupt road construction work in the state's Bastar division, comprising seven districts including Sukma, by launching attacks on security forces and damaging vehicles and machines used in the projects.
