Maoist rebels blow up bus in central India filled with police; news report says 40 killed

Report: Rebels blow up bus in India, killing 40

NEW DELHI — Maoist rebels blew up a bus filled with police and civilians Monday as it drove through central India, authorities said. News reports said 40 people were killed in the attack.

The attack took place in the state of Chhattisgarh, which has been the site of fierce fighting between the Maoists and government forces in recent months.

A passenger bus filled with civilians and police was traveling through the area Monday afternoon when it was hit by a rebel land mine, said Rajender Kumar Vig, a top police official in the area.

Amarnath Upadhyaya, another senior police officer, said the front of the bus was destroyed and 40 to 60 people were on board. Police did not have initial casualty figures, he said.

The Press Trust of India reported that at least 40 people were killed in the attack.

Attacks by the Maoists, known as Naxalites, have been increasing in recent months.

The rebels ambushed a paramilitary patrol last month, killing 76 troops, and kidnapped and killed six villagers over the weekend, alleging they were police informants.

The rebels, who have tapped into the rural poor’s growing anger at being left out of the country’s economic gains, are now present in 20 of the country’s 28 states and have an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 fighters, according to India’s home ministry.

Last year, the government announced its “Operation Green Hunt” offensive aimed at flushing the militants out of their forest hide-outs.