Raipur: Maoists on Wednesday released 12 tribals in a village in Bijapur district under Bastar of Chhattisgarh after holding them hostage for 24 hours, police said.

The abducted tribals returned to their village in the morning, police said.

A group of armed Naxals stormed the village of Pedakorma at around four pm on Tuesday and assaulted the villagers after dragging them out of their houses, police said.

The ultras hacked to death three villagers and took with them 12 other villagers to the nearby jungle while leaving the spot, the police said.

The three tribals slain by the Maoists were Jhingu Modiyam, Soma Modiyam and Anil Madvi.

Jhingu and Soma are related to Dinesh Modiyam, a former member of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKZSC) of Maoists.

Dinesh, who had 26 murder cases pending against him in different police stations in Bastar, had surrendered before police in Bijapur in March this year, dealing a severe blow to Maoists.

The third slain tribal is a relative of a state police officer, police said.

As many as 18 civilians were killed by Maoists in the current year so far after being dubbed as police informers by the rebels.

Last year, 71 civilians were killed by the Naxals.

Around 20 of them were killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast triggered by Maoists.

As many as 211 Maoists were killed in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh, including 194 in Bastar, in the current year so far.