Maoists kill four policemen in central India

Maoists kill four policemen in central India

RAIPUR: Four policemen were shot dead when about 250 Maoist rebels made an abortive bid to attack a refugee camp in central India early on Wednesday, police said.

The clash took place just outside a camp housing 1,000 tribal refugees in a forested village of the Dantewada district of impoverished Chhattisgarh state, 480 km (300 miles) south of the state capital, Raipur.

The dead included a police constable and three special police officers (SPOs), locals who have been recruited to act as informers and assistants for the police in their battle against the rebels.

Senior police officer R.K. Vij told Reuters the Maoists tried to storm the camp but were turned back by police. The rebels fled after reinforcements reached the area. Dantewada has become the epicentre of Maoist violence in India since the state government helped set up an anti-Maoist movement called Salwa Judum (State sponsered terro) in the remote district last June. reuters

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