Eighteen Indian policemen were killed on Saturday when their truck was blown up by a landmine placed under a culvert by Maoist rebels in the east of the country, police said. The attack took place at Chakia, some 100 km east of the holy Hindu town of Varanasi in the populous Uttar Pradesh State.
Police had said initially 15 policemen were killed and five seriously wounded in the blast but a police spokesman said later on Saturday that seven policemen were critically hurt and three of them died in hospital.
"The toll could go up as two of the wounded are in a very critical state," the spokesman said.
The blast took place near the border with the neighbouring state of Bihar where Maoist guerrillas, fighting for the rights of landless labourers and poor peasants, have a strong presence.
"This is the first time the police (in Uttar Pradesh) have been attacked in such a gruesome manner and we are not going to spare them (the rebels)," V. K. B. Nair, director general of police, told Reuters.