RAIPUR, India, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Indian police battled Maoist rebels who ambushed their patrol in dense jungle on Wednesday, as violence worsens in an insurgency that has seen bigger and bolder attacks on government forces this year.
Police said the security patrol came under fire from about 200 Maoists perched on a hilltop in the southern jungle of Chhattisgarh state, a rebel stronghold.
Police shot back, and a six-hour gunbattle followed, in which five Maoists were wounded, state police chief Vishwa Ranjan said.
Police had earlier said that 70 policemen had gone missing during the attack, but Ranjan said they had only temporarily lost contact with the force due to heavy rain.
"The gun fight is over and all policemen are safe," Ranjan told Reuters. "They are on (their) way back, but returning very slowly as there is a possibility of landmines or ambushes."
The ability of the rebels to take on large groups of well-armed security personnel highlights their growing military sophistication in large swathes of India, especially remote rural areas left out of the booming economy.
In the past, security forces have suffered heavy casualties in such ambushes.
In a separate attack, five people were killed when the rebels blasted a vehicle carrying security guards of a bank in the eastern state of Jharkhand, police said.
Recent attacks on police have raised questions over the security forces’ capabilities to tackle the Maoists, especially during a counter-offensive by security forces this year.
In April, a similar ambush by the Maoists killed 75 policemen and a month later 35 people, including security forces, died when the rebels bombed a bus. Both attacks occurred in mineral-rich but largely poor Chhattisgarh.
The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers and are planning to topple the Indian state by 2050.
They operate from jungle bases and carry out hit-and-run attacks on police, railways and government buildings in east, central and southern India where they control vast swathes of mineral-rich land with billions of dollars in business potential.
Thousands have been killed since the insurgency started in the late 1960s.
