DHAKA: Police say suspected Maoist rebels exploded a powerful land mine to kill six police officers and their driver in the eastern Indian state of Bihar.

Senior police officer SK Bhardwaj says the team was patrolling a rebel-infested area of Aurangabad district when the rebels remotely set off a mine that was planted near a culvert.

He says all seven men in the vehicle died instantly, reports The Straits Times.

The blast was near Tandwa village, about 160km south of Bihar’s capital, Patna.

The rebels are inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong.

They are demanding land and jobs for impoverished tribal communities they say are ignored by the government.

BDST: 1910 HRS, DEC 03, 2013