Nagpur, Dec. 24: Suspected Maoists torched earth-movers and dozens of trucks owned by a private company around the Surjagarh mines in Maharashtra's forested Gadchiroli district, bringing work to a halt after the Friday attack that went on till late in the evening.

Gadchiroli police said around 500 rebels are suspected to have stormed the site in Etapalli block and torched around 75 trucks, three to four earthmoving vehicles and a two-wheeler.

The Surjagarh mines are one of the biggest iron-ore mines in the district, around 350km from Nagpur.

The Llyods Steel and Mines Company had begun extracting around 2,000 tonnes of iron ore a day at this mine about a year ago after prolonged opposition from local people and Maoists.

Several truck drivers and labourers were beaten up and kept confined till the suspected rebels had torched the trucks and the earthmovers. According to sources from the area, the suspected Maoists drove out around 300 labourers before they burnt the vehicles, some of which were laden with iron ore.

The district has a paper mill as its only other industry.

The police have been claiming success in anti-Maoist operations in the district in the wake of setting up new police posts and stations in what were Maoist bastions till recently.

Maharashtra director-general of police Satish Mathur has promised a suitable reply.