BJP lawmaker among five 'killed by Maoists' in Chhattisgarh

A lawmaker of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and four others were killed in an attack on an election campaign convoy by suspected Maoists in Chhattisgarh in central India on Tuesday evening.

BJP lawmaker Bhima Mandavi’s convoy was ambushed in the Dantewada region of Chhattisgarh this evening two days before the start of the national elections at the Maoist-hit Bastar region in the first phase.

Photographs from the spot indicate the Maoists set off a blast through an Improvised Explosive Device that was buried on the road, report BBC and bdnews24.com.

The blast had ripped apart the vehicle in which the lawmaker was travelling, the mangled pieces can be seen lying some distance from a crater on the road, according to the report.

Four others killed in the attack were security personnel accompanying the lawmaker.