RAIPUR, India: Suspected Maoist militants killed six policemen in two separate attacks in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, police said Monday.

Eight fighters with the ultra-leftist militants, who are entrenched deep in jungles across a swathe of northern and eastern India, were also killed, senior police officer T.J. Long Kumer told AFP.

In one incident, four policemen died when their vehicle hit a landmine in the rich iron ore area of Kirandul, 415 kilometres from the state capital Raipur.

Also on Sunday, militants ambushed a police party conducting a search operation in a dense forest area.

Violence by Maoist militants in India rose in 2010, leaving a record 1,169 people dead, the latest federal government figures show.

The Maoist movement, which began in 1967, feeds off land disputes, police brutality and corruption, and is strongest in the poorest and most deprived areas of India, many of which are rich in natural resources.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called the insurgency India's main internal security threat.