PATNA: Maoist rebels killed six policemen yesterday in a landmine attack in the eastern Indian state of Bihar in their second deadly attack on security forces in recent weeks, police said.
“The Maoists targeted a convoy heading out on patrol duty, killing six policemen in Gaya district,” district police chief N H Khan said. A village elder and a police informer who were travelling in the same vehicle as the policemen were also killed in the explosion, Khan said. The attack is the latest in a simmering conflict that pits the insurgents against local and national authorities in the forests and rural areas of mainly central and eastern India.
The rebels shot dead seven policemen on January 7 in the neighbouring state of Jharkhand, another hotbed of left-wing extremism.
The guerrillas, who say they are fighting for the rights of tribal people and landless farmers, often collect funds through extortion and protection rackets.
The government describes the Maoists as the country’s most serious internal security threat.
Teachers, police clash in Odisha; 40 injured
Bhubaneswar: At least 40 people were injured in a clash between non-government teachers and the police near the Odisha assembly here yesterday.
Police used water cannons, followed by a baton charge, to disperse the teachers after some of them broke barricades and attacked police personnel, pelting stones on them, Deputy Commissioner of Police Nitinjeet Singh said. “At least 20 policemen sustained injuries. The number of protesters injured would also be about 20,” he said. About 5,000 teachers, including women, have been protesting in Bhubaneswar demanding salary at par with government teachers.
Although they had staged demonstrations several times in the past, the government has yet to decide on the matter.
Delhi gang-rape panel submits report
New Delhi: The Justice Usha Mehra commission set up to enquire into the various aspects of the December 16 gangrape here submitted its report to Law Minister Ashwini Kumar said. “Government will give serious consideration to the report,” Ashwini Kumar said, while accepting the report. The commission, headed by the former Delhi High Court judge, was set up on December 26 to enquire into various aspects of the shocking incident of the rape, identify the lapses, if any, on the part of the police or any other authority. It was given three months for submitting its report.Agencies
