5 cops killed in Maoist attack in Jharkhand

Pundiduri Village (Jharkhand), Jul 1: At least five policemen were killed as Maoists triggered a powerful landmine blast under their van in Jharkhand's Khunti district on Monday, June 30.

The Maoists had planted the landmine deep in a forest near Pundiduri village, about 65 km away from Ranchi. "A police team went on a raid and when they were returning from the operation a landmine blast took place in which three policemen including the Deputy Superintendent of Police of Dhumru and his driver lost their life. Four policemen who have sustained injuries have been admitted in Ranchi," said MS Bhatia, Superintendent of Police, Ranchi.

Last month, the Maoists had killed three people after pronouncing them guilty in a kangaroo court and robbed Rs five crore from an ICICI Bank in the same area.

Maoist rebels regularly kill police and attack government establishments and factories in a large swathe of eastern and central India, particularly in the countryside.

They say they are fighting for the rights of the poor and landless, an insurgency Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as the single biggest threat to country's internal security. It has killed thousands of people in the past four decades.

ANI