Maoist rebels trick police with box blast

Maoist rebels set off a powerful bomb at a jungle hideout in India's eastern state of Jharkhand on Saturday, killing 13 policemen, including a deputy commandant. The blast occurred when a police patrol tried to open a box which they had been told contained documents about Maoist activities in the state's remote Chatra district, some 200km northwest of capital city Ranchi.

"Police had gone there after a tip-off. They found this box which was actually a bomb. It now looks like a trap," said police superintendent Sashinath Jha. And Jharkhand Home Minister Sudesh Mahato said: "Fourteen policemen have been injured, five of them seriously,"

The attack comes weeks after the rebels killed 15 villagers, mostly former comrades and police informers, in the state.