Maoist rebels kill 5 police officers in India
Over 12 people were also injured in the attack.
PATNA (AFP) - Maoist rebels killed five police officers Thursday as they were returning from polling duty in an insurgency-hit region of eastern India, an official said.
The attack took place in Jharkhand, one of 12 states where voters went to the polls in India s multi-phased general elections.
"We can confirm that five of our brave men have died in the attack," head of Jharkhand police Rajeev Kumar told AFP.
Over 12 people were also injured in the attack, which may have been triggered by a powerful landmine planted by the rebels, Kumar said.
The Maoist rebels have called for a boycott of the elections that began on April 7. Results will be out on May 16, four days after polling ends.
Earlier this month, the insurgents killed 14 people in two poll-related blasts in the central state of Chhattisgarh, underscoring the security challenges facing election organisers in India.
Separatist and Maoist insurgencies occupy large swathes of India s northeast, northwest and central regions.
The Maoists, described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the most serious internal security threat, have been fighting since 1967 for a communist society by toppling what they call India s "semi-colonial, semi-feudal" form of rule.
The insurgency has cost thousands of lives. The rebels are believed to be present in at least 20 states but are most active in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.
