RAIPUR, India - Maoist rebels killed at least 75 police by setting off explosives and firing from hilltops around dense forest in central India on Tuesday, in one of the worst attacks by the insurgents in years. The ambush by more than 700 Maoist fighters in Chhattisgarh state highlights the strong rebel presence in large swathes of India, especially remote rural areas left out of the booming economy. Recent attacks on police have raised questions over how well prepared security forces are to tackle the Maoists, especially during a counter-offensive by security forces this year. "Something has gone very wrong," Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said. "They seem to have walked into a camp or a trap." Police said the Maoist rebels, who control several areas rich in mineral resources, had retreated into the forest in the Dantewada district of the Bastar region, home to government-owned iron ore miner NMDC Ltd, the largest in India. Tuesday's attack left mining operations unaffected, but mining officials were rattled. "There is an absolute panic," S.P. Himanshu Kumar, the deputy general manager of NDMC, frequently attacked by Maoists. Reinforcements trying to collect the bodies came under fire by the Maoists who had surrounded the area. Two Indian Air Force helicopters were used in a rescue operation. "This is a big disaster and it shows the paramilitary forces are obviously not trained to tackle the Maoists' rebellion and they don't seem to have enough intelligence," said retired Major General Ravi Arora, editor of Indian Military Review. Maoists regularly attack rail lines and factories, hurting business potentially worth billions of dollars in mineral-rich and often remote regions. They extort more than $300 million from companies every year, the government says. "The growing activities of Maoists in Bastar in Chhattisgarh are threatening iron ore mining," said Ashok Surana, head of a leading industrial body, Mini Steel Plant Association. "The iron ore miners fear that the authorities might end up ceding control of Bastar's ore reserves in five years if the dominance of the area by the insurgents is not checked urgently."
