Nine killed in roadside bomb attack in central India | Police News

Police mentioned eight policemen and a driver had been killed in bomb blast set off by Maoist rebels in Chhattisgarh.

At the least eight policemen and a driver have been killed in central India when a bomb blast set off by Maoist rebels tossed their automobile into the air, police have mentioned.

The police automobile during which the victims had been travelling was hit by a roadside blast within the Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh state on Monday, a police assertion mentioned.

The assault befell as troopers had been getting back from an anti-Maoist operation on Saturday, the place 4 rebels and a police officer had been killed.

“Eight safety forces and a driver had been killed as we speak when the automobile during which they had been travelling in got here involved with a landmine,” mentioned Vivekanand Sinha, chief of the state police’s anti-Maoist operations.

Images printed by Indian media confirmed a deep crater ripped into the street by the blast.

Greater than 10,000 individuals have died within the decades-long battle waged by the rebels, who say they’re combating to provide poor Indian farmers and landless labourers extra management over their land presently exploited by main mining firms.

Authorities forces have stepped up efforts to crush the long-running armed battle, with some 287 rebels killed in 2024, in keeping with official figures.

The rebels, also called Naxalites after the district the place their armed marketing campaign started in 1967, had been impressed by the Chinese language revolutionary chief Mao Zedong. About 1,000 suspected Naxalites had been arrested and 837 surrendered in 2024.

Amit Shah, India’s inside minister, warned the Maoist rebels in September to give up or face an “all-out” assault, saying the federal government anticipated to crush the riot by early 2026.

The motion gained in power and numbers till the early 2000s when New Delhi deployed tens of 1000’s of safety personnel towards the rebels in a stretch of territory often called the “Crimson Hall”.

The riot has been drastically restricted in space in recent times.

Authorities have since invested thousands and thousands of {dollars} in native infrastructure and social initiatives to fight the Naxalite attraction.