Police: Suspected Maoist rebels blow up police jeep in India, killing 6 officers and driver

Suspected rebels kill 6 police, driver in India

PATNA, India — A spokesman says suspected Maoist rebels have blown up a police jeep in India’s troubled east and killed six officers and their civilian driver.

Police spokesman V.S. Deshmukh says the officers were on routine patrol when suspected insurgents detonated a roadside bomb Friday in Ghumla, a village in Jharkhand state.

Rebels have been fighting for more than three decades demanding land and jobs for farmers and the poor. About 2,000 people including police, militants and civilians have been killed in the violence in more than a dozen Indian states over the past few years.