Suspected Maoist rebels kill 15 policemen in India

MUMBAI, India: Suspected communist rebels ambushed and killed 15 policemen in a jungle in western India, police said Monday.

At least eight rebels were also killed during Sunday's gunbattle that lasted two hours after guerrillas attacked a police unit patrolling a remote jungle that cuts across the borders of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh states, said Maharashtra police chief A.N. Roy.

The rebels, known as Naxalites after the village where the movement was founded, frequently target police and government officers. The clash occurred about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) northeast of Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra.

Roy denied reports in the Indian media that the bodies of policemen had been mutilated. "That is absolutely false. There was no disfiguring," he said.

The Maoist rebels are active in 13 of India's 28 states, fighting for more than three decades demanding land and jobs for the poor. They say they are inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong.