Maoist rebels attack police in eastern India on election eve (Roundup)

Apr 15, 2009, 11:26 GMT

   New Delhi - At least seven people were killed Wednesday as Maoist rebels stepped up attacks in eastern India on the eve of general elections, blowing up a police bus and attacking two paramilitary camps, news reports said.

   A group of Maoists attacked a convoy carrying Central Reserve Police Force personnel on election duty in Jharkhand state's Latehar district, 125 kilometres north-west of state capital Ranchi, PTI news agency reported.

   The civilian driver of the bus leading the convoy was killed as the rebels triggered a landmine blast, but the 80 personnel who had got out of the bus and were following it on foot up a steep incline immediately took positions and engaged in an exchange of fire with the Maoists, the police said.

   Five Maoists and a police constable were killed, police force sources were quoted as saying.

   In a separate incident in neighbouring Bihar state, a group of at least 100 Maoists attacked a camp of the paramilitary Border Security Force in Rohtas district, about 200 kilometres south-west of state capital Patna bordering Jharkhand.

   The camp was set up to oversee security at elections scheduled to be held in the region Thursday.

   One trooper was injured in the attack that began before dawn and continued for more than three hours, Rohtas district police chief Vikas Vaibhav was quoted as saying by CNN-IBN television channel.

   The rebels used sophisticated weapons and three rocket launchers against the camp's 70 border force personnel, Vaibhav said.

   He said 10 rebels were killed, according to eyewitnesses, and this was being verified.

   In a third incident in Jharkhand's Palamau district, 190 kilometres north-west of Ranchi, a group of 200 armed rebels launched a similar attack on another border force camp housing security personnel on election duty.

   No security personnel were injured, police said.

   All three targets were in a region of high Maoist activity where voting is scheduled Thursday in the first phase of India's general elections.

   At least 40 of the 124 constituencies going to the hustings Thursday are affected by the Maoist insurgency.

   They are located in the eastern states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa as well as the south's Andhra Pradesh.

   The rebels, who have called for an election boycott and operate in 13 of India's 29 states, claim they are fighting for the rights of the rural poor and tribal people.

   Federal Home Minister P Chidambaram said the Maoists had stepped up attacks, specially on security forces, in view of disrupting elections.

   'Our security forces are fully prepared to meet the situation,' he said at a press briefing in Mumbai.

   'Fortunately, voting in the Naxal-affected areas will be over on the first phase tomorrow,' Chidambaram added.

   Maoist rebels are called Naxals in India after the Naxalbari village in eastern West Bengal state where the movement first raised its head in the late 1960s.

   According to independent estimates, more than 650 people - including civilians and police - were killed in Maoist violence in India in 2008.

   According to independent estimates, at least 4,000 people have died in Maoist-linked incidents in the past decade.

   Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Maoist insurgency as one of the gravest internal security threats facing India.