At least 24 security personnel were killed in a landmine blast triggered by Maoist rebels in the central Indian Chattisgarh state, police said on Sunday.
Militants blew up a patrolling vehicle in the Dantewada district, 400km south of state capital Raipur, late on Saturday night, officers at district police headquarters said.
Of those killed, 22 belonged to the Central Reserve Police Force and two were local police officers. Three other security personnel who were injured have been air-lifted to a hospital in Raipur. The condition of one of the them is stated to be serious.
Police suspect militants belonging to the Communist Party of India were behind the attack. Officers consider the attack a retaliation by the rebels after the security forces stepped up surveillance operations.
The Maoists have been very active in the district, where government forces have been carrying out sustained patrolling to detect the militant hideouts in the dense jungles.
”The powerful explosion ripped apart the anti-land-mine vehicle in which the security personnel were travelling as it had just crossed the Pateda river. Most of those in the vehicle were killed,” said a police officer.
Chattisgarh home affairs minister Ramvichar Netam condemned the incident, saying the state administration is determined to take stern action against the Maoists.
The attack came two days after the Communist Party of India and Communist Party of Nepal declared they have united in their fight to establish ”socialism and communism” in the two countries.
India’s security forces are battling Maoists rebels in Chattisgarh and in the states of Andhra Pradesh, central Jharkhand and eastern Orissa and Bihar. In neighbouring Nepal, more than 11 000 people have been killed in the Maoist insurgency that erupted in 1996. — Sapa-DPA