Maoists 'kill 17 Indian police"
At least 17 policemen have been killed in a gun battle with Maoist insurgents in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, officials say.
They said the fighting started after a group of Maoists attacked a police station in Gadchiroli district.
It was not immediately clear whether the rebels suffered any casualties.
The Maoists pose one of India's biggest security threats. They operate in many states and say they are fighting for the rights of the poor and landless.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told police chiefs last month that a campaign against the rebels had failed to produce results.
Thousands of people have died in the insurgency they launched in the 1960s.
Last weekend the rebels killed 16 villagers in the state of Bihar. Two days ago the body of a policeman kidnapped by the rebels was found beheaded in the state of Jharkhand.
The rebels killed 16 police personnel in a gun battle in Maharashtra in May. Fifteen officers were killed in the same state in February.
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