Ranchi, June 20 (IANS) Suspecting them to be police informers, Maoists gunned down two men in separate incidents in East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, police said Sunday.

Members of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) first raided Jiyan village late Saturday night and fired at Bosko Singh and Hopan Mardi. While Singh died, Mardi was severely injured.

Later the Maoist guerrillas went to another village — Bakrakocha, and shot dead Lakhiram Mardi.

Pamphlets left by the rebels described the victims as police informers and warned villagers against helping the police.

A massive operation against Maoists by security forces is on in the East Singhbhum (Jamshedpur) and Chaibasa districts of Jharkhand.