An Indian government minister escaped unhurt when a roadside bomb exploded seconds after his car had driven past, officials said on Monday They said that six policemen were injured in the blast. Federal Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan was returning from laying the foundation stone at a steel plant in West Bengal state when the explosion occurred on Sunday. “The blast took place seconds after Paswan's vehicle passed the spot,” West Bengal home secretary Asoke Mohon Chakraborty told reporters in Kolkata. Six people had been arrested and nearly a dozen detained for questioning, police said. The attack happened in West Midnapore district bordering Jharkhand state, where Maoist rebels have a significant presence. The landmine was packed in a plastic can so it could not be found by metal detectors, police officer Kuldip Singh said. The Maoist insurgency grew out of a peasant uprising in 1967 and the rebels are active in several Indian states. Eight held Indian police arrested eight villagers in an eastern state for possible links with Maoist insurgents who triggered a blast aimed at senior government ministers, police said on Monday. The attack struck at the heart of West Bengal's political machine, highlighting the growing reach of the Maoist insurgency that stretches across eastern, central and southern India. “We are worried, since it occurred very close to Midnapore town,” Anup Bhushan Vohra, the state police chief, said on Monday after visiting the spot about four hours' drive from Kolkata, the state capital. Security experts said Sunday's attack was an example of how Maoists are gradually making inroads into towns and cities. Maoist rebels have dropped pamphlets in the district in the past urging villagers not to give land for the project.
