Maoist rebels set off a powerful bomb at a jungle hideout in India's eastern state of Jharkhand today, killing 13 policemen including a deputy commandant, police said.
The blast occurred when a police patrol tried to open a box which they had been told contained documents about Maoist activities, in the state's remote Chatra district, some 200 km (130 miles) northwest of capital city Ranchi. "Police had gone there after a tip-off.
They found this box which was actually a bomb. It now looks like a trap," police superintendent Sashinath Jha told reporters. "Fourteen policemen have been injured, five of them seriously," Jharkhand home minister Sudesh Mahato told Reuters. The attack comes weeks after the rebels killed 15 villagers, mostly former comrades and police informers, in the state.
Thousands have died in almost four decades of Maoist violence across nine Indian states. Rebels, mostly operating out of jungle bases, have killed politicians and policemen and blasted factories and government offices.
The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of peasants and landless labourers in the country's rural hinterland, often holding their own courts to resolve disputes and killing officials they believe are corrupt.
In August, India's home ministry said there were about 9,300 armed Maoist rebels in the country. Officials say rebels have joined hands with Maoists fighting to overthrow monarchy in neighbouring Nepal.