Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says India would “never bow down” before terrorists after suspected Maoist rebels ambushed a political convoy and killed at least two-dozen people.

The convoy had just left a campaign rally south of Raipur in Chhattisgarh State in central India, but was forced to stop because of felled trees blocking the road.  At least one vehicle at the front of the convoy was then hit by a land-mine blast before as many as 200 suspected rebels opened fire, they added.

The main target of the attack is believed to have been a Congress Party official who attempted to flee with his son:  Both were found nearby, reportedly mutilated.  Also killed was a local Congress Party leader named Mahendra Karma, who was instrumental in setting up a movement to fight the Maoists.

Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi says she is “devastated” by the attack.

The insurgents are demanding land and jobs for the poor, and ultimately want to establish a “communist society” by overthrowing India's “semi-colonial, semi-feudal” form of rule.