Fifteen persons were killed by suspected naxalities at Bhincaghati in Giridh district, Deputy Inspector General Neeraj Sinha said on Monday.

The deceased were said to be villagers and details are yet to be known, Sinha, before rushing to the spot, said.

Over a 100 armed naxalities raided the village under Beuri police station in the wee hours of Monday and attacked it, Sinha said.

Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police Bhageshwar Jha said six other villagers also suffered injuries in the attack and added that the exact figure of the casaualties could be known only after reaching the site of the massacre.

Jharkhand Home Secretary J B Tubid and Director General of Police B D Ram were rushing to Bhelbadari village, which is situated in a remote interior area. Police and security forces had to take extra precaution to pre-empt any ambush by the naxals to reach the spot.

According to the police, people have been protesting against extremism in several villages of Giridih district in the recent past.

On July 23, naxals had killed a villager John Hembrom and chopped off the hands of two others and an ear of the fourth, all of them hailing from different villages in Giridih. They were killed during 'self-styled' court proceedings conducted by naxals somewhere in the adjoining Jamui district of Bihar.