Land Mine Blast Kills 5 During India's Elections

A Hindu holy man poses for the media after casting his vote in Ayodhya, India, Thursday, April 23,...

A Hindu holy man poses for the media after casting his vote in Ayodhya, India, Thursday, April 23, 2009. Suspected communist rebels used a homemade bomb to attack a jeep carrying election officials, injuring two people, as voting began Thursday in the second round of India's month long national elections, officials said. (AP Photo/Gurinder Osan)

(AP)

Suspected communist rebels blew up a jeep carrying polling officials in eastern India, killing five people as part of a wave of violence that has marred India's elections, officials said Friday.

Several electronic voting machines being transported in the jeep were destroyed in Thursday's land mine attack, forcing election officials to announce that citizens in the eastern district would have to revote.

The assault in Bihar state came just after voting ended in the eastern strongholds of communist guerrillas who have fought for decades, claiming to defend the rights of poor farmers and landless workers. They often attack police, landlords and local politicians, as well as poor villagers they accuse of working with authorities.

The rebels, who claim to be inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, threatened to kill citizens participating in the election, which they dismiss as a "fake exercise."

Four police officers and one election official died and the jeep driver was hospitalized with serious injuries in the Muzzafarpur district, nearly 45 miles (75 kilometers) east of the Bihar state capital of Patna, said police official Neelmani, who uses one name. The attackers fled, he said.

The officials were returning to their headquarters with electronic voting machines and other election materials, some of which were destroyed, said election official Subhir Rakesh. The vote in the district would be held again, but officials have yet to decide on a date, he said.

Also Thursday, ethnic separatist rebels killed two policemen when they opened fire on the convoy of a politician in India's remote northeast.

"We were in a convoy of 40 cars with my supporters when militants attacked with automatic weapons," Sansuma Khungur Bwiswmutiary, a lawmaker in the Indian parliament seeking re-election, said Friday. "My security officers returned fire enabling me and my wife to get out of the car and hide in a bamboo grove along the road."

The attack occurred in India's Assam state, where several groups have been fighting for an independent homeland or greater autonomy from India.