At least three policemen were killed and three others seriously injured on Thursday in a land mine blast triggered by suspected Maoists in Odisha's Kandhamal district.
Police said the incident occurred in a forested area near Srirampur village under Kotagarh police station, about 400 km
southwest of Bhubaneswar, when six policemen, mostly constables and home guards, were on their way in a vehicle to a site where the Maoists had triggered an explosion on Wednesday.
"Those killed included two constables and one home guard," Odisha home secretary UN Behera.
The three others injured policemen were admitted in the local hospital and the police have intensified combing in the area, said Kandhamal DSP GS Behera.
The Maoists are observing a two-day shutdown of Odisha from Wednesday in protest against "operation greenhunt" against them and arrest of "innocent tribals". Ahead of their shutdown call they had blown up three mobile towers in Ganjam district neighbouring Kandhamal.
The shutdown had affected transport service in Maoist affected south Odisha districts like Kandhamal, Koraput, Ganjam, Malkangiri and Rayagada.