{{Officials reacted with outrage Sunday to an audacious attack by about 200 suspected Maoist rebels who set off a roadside bomb and opened fire on a convoy carrying Indian ruling Congress party leaders and members in an eastern state, killing at least 24 people and wounding 37 others.}}<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, accompanied by party President Sonia Gandhi, visited the injured in a hospital in the Chhattisgarh state capital and said the government would take firm action against the perpetrators.<\/p>\n
“We are devastated,” said Gandhi, who denounced what she called a “dastardly attack” on the country’s democratic values.<\/p>\n
Rajnath Singh, president of the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, said the country should unite in its fight against the Maoist insurgency.<\/p>\n
The convoy was attacked Saturday in a densely forested area about 345 kilometers (215 miles) south of Raipur, Chhattisgarh’s capital, as the Congress members were returning from a party rally.<\/p>\n
Four state party leaders and eight police officers were among those killed. Other victims were party supporters.<\/p>\n
Police initially reported that 28 people were killed, but they later changed the death toll to 24. It was not clear why it had been revised.<\/p>\n
Police officer R.K. Vij said 11 of the 37 injured were in serious condition.<\/p>\n
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