'Maoists' kill 14 Indian police

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At least 14 Indian policemen have been killed in a landmine ambush in an area of eastern India wracked by a Maoist insurgency, police say.

Several others were injured in the attack that blew up their car near the town of Bokaro, 130km (80 miles) from Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state.

Police reinforcements were sent to the site and a manhunt has begun.

More than 6,000 people have died during the rebels' 20-year fight for a communist state in parts of India.

A group of officers was on a routine patrol when the powerful blast occurred on a dirt road off a dense forest, M.S. Bhatia, a senior state police officer, told Reuters news agency.

"We have rushed 11 with serious injuries to a hospital," Mr Bhatia said.

Reuters reported that in a separate incident in neighbouring Chhattisgarh state early on Saturday, four Maoists had been killed and several injured in a fierce gunbattle with police.

The Maoist movement which began more than three decades ago has spread to a number of Indian states.

The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of poor peasants and landless workers.