Garhwa (Jharkhand), Jan 21
Thirteen policemen, including the officer-in-charge of Bhandaria police station, were killed and two injured today when Maoists triggered a landmine blast near the jungles of Bariganwa in Garhwa district.

"The Maoists triggered the blast, killing 12 policemen and the officer-in-charge of Bhandaria police station RB Choudhary around 11 am," SP Michael S Raj said.

"Only after a post-mortem, will we be able to tell whether they were hit by bullets (too)," he said, when asked if Maoists had fired upon policemen after blowing up their anti-landmine vehicle, about 75 km from Garhwa.

Eyewitnesses said the vehicle was tossed high into the air after the blast. When some injured policemen were trying to come out of the vehicle, Maoists fire at them from point blank range, sources said. They looted weapons from the dead cops and torched the vehicle.

Bhandaria BDO Basudev Prasad had a narrow escape as the blast took place minutes after his vehicle passed the spot. — PTI