NEW DELHI, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- India's extreme left-wing Naxalite rebels Saturday shot dead three youths in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal for being "police informers," a senior police official said.

    "We have recovered bodies of three laborers near the Khushboni jungles in West Bengal's West Midnapore district. Rebel posters found near the bodies say that they have been killed as they were dacoits (gangsters) -- however, we suspect that they were killed for being tacit informers," the official said.

    Initial investigations have revealed that the victims were called out of their homes last night and then gunned down, he said, adding that a massive manhunt has been launched to nab the culprits.

    The killings came just hours before West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who runs a Communist Party-led government in the state, is scheduled to make his annual visit to this district to oversee developmental and infrastructural work which has been undertaken there in recent times.