Bangladesh villagers hack Maoist rebels to death

Four rebels from the outlawed East Bengal Communist Party were killed and another one was injured and arrested after Sunday's violence at Jhoudia village in Kushtia district, the area's police chief, Mozzamel Hossain, said in a telephone interview.

The rebels, armed with two rifles and meat cleavers, attacked a village council office, where the headman, Khairab Ali, 45, was holding a meeting with five villagers, Hossain said.

The rebels dragged Ali out of his office, shot him several times, then severed his head from his body. They then fled through the rice fields.

Armed with meat cleavers, scores of villagers chased and caught the fleeing rebels, and chopped four of them to pieces before police arrived, Hossain said.

The fifth rebel, bleeding from head wounds, was arrested and taken to hospital. No villagers were arrested.

Maoist rebels, split into several rival groups, are campaigning for an armed revolution to establish communism in Bangladesh, a predominantly Muslim nation of 130 million people. The rebels have little public support.

(AP)