Lalgarh (West Bengal), Aug 6 - Three activists of Jharkhand Party-Naren (JKP-N) were killed by suspected Maoist rebels early Thursday in this trouble-torn belt of West Midnapore district.

District Magistrate Narayan Swarup Nigam told IANS that the bodies were found on the National Highway 9 near Magurai village under Binpur police station.

'All three were workers of JKP-N. One of them was gunned down. The bodies of the other two bore injury marks inflicted with sharp weapons,' he said.

Citing police reports, Nigam said Maoists were believed to have carried out the attack.

With the recovery of these three bodies, the number of those killed by the Leftist ultras has risen to nine since the state police and central paramilitary forces began a joint operation June 18 to flush out the Maoists from the Lalgarh belt of West Bengal.