Four Indian policemen were killed Saturday in an explosion in the central state of Chhattisgarh, according to officials.
Following a large number of Maoist rebels "renounced the path of violence and come forward for rehabilitation," security forces have been "clearing the dump" of Maoists containing "IEDs, weapons, arms, ammunition," P. Sundarraj, a top police officer in the state, told reporters.
He said a team had gone to recover a dump in the forest area, bordering Narayanpur and Kanker districts, where a large number of electronic materials previously dumped by the Maoists were recovered.
"While recovering another dump, an IED explosion occurred," he said, adding that four policemen died in the blast.
For more than three decades, Maoist rebels, also known as Naxals in eastern and central India, have fought for what they call the tribal people's rights.
In March, Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma said that armed Naxals have been "completely eliminated" in Chhattisgarh. It came after the Indian government repeatedly pledged to eradicate the insurgency by March 2026.
