By IANS
Raipur : Nine policemen were killed and two injured in simultaneous landmine blasts triggered by outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) cadres in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district late Monday, police said.
The incident took place in a thickly forested stretch of Mardapal area, about 320 km south of capital Raipur, when rebels detonated a string of 15 landmines targeting a group of about a dozen state police personnel who were on a search operation on motorcycles.
"Nine policemen have died and two injured in coordinated simultaneous landmine blasts triggered by Maoist militants," Girdhari Nayak, inspector general of police in charge of anti-Maoist operations, told IANS over telephone.
He added that the rebels looted 12 weapons from the slain policemen but he refused give the details of the weapons.
In another incident, Maoists killed a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel Monday evening in forested Gangloor area in Bijapur district, about 522 km south of here.