Communist rebels kill at least 49 police officers in India

Communist rebels kill at least 49 police officers in India

Suspected communist rebels armed with rifles, hand grenades and petrol bombs attacked a police post in the jungles of eastern India on Thursday, killing at least 49 officers, police said.

The attack in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday morning appeared to have caught by surprise the 79 officers guarding the remote post in the state of Chattisgarh, nearly 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) southeast of New Delhi, police officer N. K. Swarnkar told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Another 12 officers were wounded in the attack, Swarnkar said.