New Delhi  - Maoist guerrillas shot dead five people the rebels suspected of being police informers in India's eastern state of Jharkhand, a news report said Monday.

A police spokesman said the villagers were abducted late Sunday in the Tamar area near the state capital, Ranchi, the IANS news agency reported.

According to police, activists of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist raided the Pundigiri village and took the five people to a forest where they were shot.

The bodies were recovered by security personnel Monday.

"The victims had a Maoist background," state police spokesman SN Pradhan told the IANS. "The activists killed them on suspicion of passing information about their movement to the police."

Jharkhand is among the Indian states worst affected by Maoist militancy in India.

During the last week of August, Maoist rebels killed at least 10 people, including a 12-year-old girl and two policemen, and blew up railway tracks and mobile phone towers in Jharkhand.

The Maoists said they are fighting for the rights of the landless, poor and tribal people and are inspired by the late Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong.

According to the government, at least 562 people - including civilians, security forces personnel and rebels - were killed in Maoist-related violence in India from January 1 to July 30. (dpa)