Ranchi, Nov 22 (IANS) Two troopers were killed and nine injured Sunday when Maoist rebels blew up their vehicle by detonating a landmine in poll-bound Jharkhand, police said.
The mine exploded when a Central Reserve Police Force party was on a routine patrol at Jori village, around 140 km from here, of Gumla district, Jharkhand police spokesperson V.H. Deshmukh said.

“Two CRPF personnel have been killed and nine were injured,” Deshmukh told IANS.

The injured CRPF personnel have been airlifted to Ranchi for treatment. Four of the injured are said to be serious.

Maoist rebels have called for a boycott of the assembly polls and intensified their violent activities ahead of the five-phase voting beginning Nov 25.

On Thursday night, guerrillas targeted a passengers train in West Singhbhum by blowing up a railway track.

Leftist rebels are active in 18 of the 24 districts of Jharkhand. Some 1,550 people have been killed in the last nine years in Maoist related violence in the state.