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Landmine explosion kills eight police recruits in India

A file photo of Indian policemen (by AFP)

A landmine suspected to have been planted by Maoist rebels has gone off in eastern India, killing at least eight police trainees.

Senior police officer K.B. Singh said Thursday that a vehicle carrying the young police recruits hit the landmine in Koraput region, about 550 kilometers south of Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Orissa State, late Wednesday.

Four of the victims, who were being trained as police drivers, reportedly died on the spot, while the other four died later at the hospital.

Singh said that the blast also left another five policemen wounded.

Maoist rebels accuse the Indian state of plundering the mineral-rich and underdeveloped east and central regions of the country at the expense of the poor and landless, among whom they retain some support.

India’s Home Ministry has described the Maoists as the country’s greatest internal threat.

More than 6,600 people, including civilians, militants, and security forces, have died in Maoist-related clashes over the past three decades.


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