Eight injured in Orissa bomb blast

BHUBANESWAR - At least eight people were injured in Orissa’s Malkangiri district when a bomb planted by Maoists in a field went off Friday, police said.

The incident took place near MPV 26 village, some 660 km from here, in a groundnut field.

Police suspect the bomb was planted by the rebels after the first phase of general elections April 16 to target security personnel whom they believed would pass through the area.

‘The bomb went off when the labourers were working in the field,’ District Superintendent of Police Satyabrata Bhoi told IANS, adding that two of the eight injured were critical.

Maoists are active in more than half of Orissa’s 30 districts.