Maoists Kill Indian Police in Ambush 

NEW DELHI – At least nine policemen were killed by a landmine set by suspected Maoist rebels in India's eastern state of Chhattisgarh, a state police official said Tuesday.
The attack took place Monday evening in the densely-forested area near the town of Gariaband – a Maoist stronghold that lies close to the state's border with eastern Orissa state.
Vishwa Ranjan, director general of police in Chhattisgarh, said a team of 10 policemen was ambushed while searching for Maoists after reports of rebel activity. All were likely killed in the brutal attack, although only nine bodies have been recovered so far, he said.
India's Maoist insurgency, popularly known as Naxalism, named after Naxalbari - a town in West Bengal where the movement began in the late 1960s -, has intensified over the last few years. The Maoists claim to be fighting for the rights of the villagers who live in these remote regions with low literacy and high poverty rates.
Waged from the forests of central and eastern India, this guerrilla war poses the biggest threat to India's internal security, the country's prime minister has said. Tens of thousands of villagers have been displaced by the fighting between Maoists and police.
Mr. Ranjan said the officers were attacked when the vehicle they were traveling in broke down, prompting them to board a tractor.
"It was then that the Maoists triggered a landmine blast in which the vehicle was blown up," Mr. Ranjan said.
Mr. Rajan said the Maoists apparently shot the officers and later chopped them into pieces.
"The mutilated bodies of nine policemen have been recovered this [Tuesday] morning. The hunt is on for a missing policeman," Mr. Ranjan said.
The South Asia Terrorism Portal, a New Delhi-based research group, says at least 245 people, including civilians, policemen and Maoist rebels, have been killed so far this year, compared to 1,180 deaths last year and 997 killings in 2009.
Last year, the Maoist rebels killed 74 policemen in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district in one of the deadliest attacks to date.