RANCHI, May 7: Ten policemen were killed and five injured when Maoist rebels triggered a landmine in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand on Tuesday on the second day of a three-day statewide strike, police said.

The incident took place in the afternoon in Sadgama area of Koderma district, 150 kilometres from Ranchi, the state’s capital.

According to Rizi Dungdung, district superintendent of police, around 15 policemen were patrolling the region in a mini-bus when the rebels, belonging to the outlawed Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and the Peoples War Group (PWG), blew it up with a landmine.

“Ten of them died on the spot while five were reported injured,” the officer said.

“Fresh troops led by senior police officers have rushed to the spot and an encounter is on with the rebels,” Dungdung added.

Earlier in the day, the rebels set fire to a train engine and blew up sections of railway track.

Armed cadres of the MCC and the PWG used explosives to blow up tracks in three districts of the state, Jharkhand police chief R.R. Prasad said.

The strike, or “economic blockade,” was called by the two groups to protest alleged police atrocities and a new federal anti-terrorism law passed by parliament in March.

The strike was relatively peaceful on Monday, but was marked by incidents of violence on Tuesday, he said.

Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place by the state administration.

Two railway policemen were injured when their patrol was ambushed by MCC cadres on Monday, he said. —AFP