Blast kills 12 police officers in Jharkhand
A land mine blew up a police van in a communist rebel stronghold in Jharkhand on Saturday, killing at least 12 officers, police said.
By Agencies |
RANCHI: A land mine blew up a police van in a communist rebel stronghold in Jharkhand on Saturday, killing at least 12 officers, police said.
The officers were on a mine-clearing operation in a densely forested part of the Burudih area, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state, said Navin Kumar Singh, the superintendent of police.
Singh said the rebels have planted mines in the area to avoid being targeted by security forces.
The rebels, who say they are inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have been fighting for more than three decades in several Indian states, demanding land and jobs for agricultural laborers and the poor.
Called Naxalites after Naxalbari, a village in West Bengal state where the movement was born in 1967, the rebels have frequently targeted police and government officials, charging authorities with plundering the region's rich natural resources with little benefit to local residents.
More than 6,000 people have been killed in the insurgency.
The officers were on a mine-clearing operation in a densely forested part of the Burudih area, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state, said Navin Kumar Singh, the superintendent of police.
Singh said the rebels have planted mines in the area to avoid being targeted by security forces.
The rebels, who say they are inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have been fighting for more than three decades in several Indian states, demanding land and jobs for agricultural laborers and the poor.
Called Naxalites after Naxalbari, a village in West Bengal state where the movement was born in 1967, the rebels have frequently targeted police and government officials, charging authorities with plundering the region's rich natural resources with little benefit to local residents.
More than 6,000 people have been killed in the insurgency.
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