At least eight policemen and a driver were killed in a bomb blast set off by Maoist rebels in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, police said on Monday.
The police vehicle in which the victims were travelling was hit by a blast in the Bijapur district of the state on Monday, a police statement said.
The nine were traveling through Kutra in the Bastar region in a Scorpio SUV when the attack took place around 2.15 p.m. on Monday, sources said.
Earlier on Sunday, security forces attacked Maoists in the Abujhmad region of Chhattisgarh and killed four rebels, including two women.
Automatic weapons such as AK 47 and Self-Loading Rifles have been recovered. Top security officials said a search operation is still on at the site of the attack.
The escalation in violence comes a day after four Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region on Sunday, adding that a jawan also died in action.
A head constable of the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Sannu Karam, died in the encounter, which broke out on Saturday evening in a forest in south Abujhmaad.
The encounter began when a joint team of security personnel was on an anti-Maoist operation, said an official.
After the firing stopped, the bodies of four Maoists were found. The security forces recovered automatic weapons, including an AK-47 rifle and a self-loading rifle (SLR) from the spot.
A search operation is underway in the area, the officials added. More details were awaited.
(Inputs from IANS)