At least five security personnel have died in an attack on a convoy belonging to an election candidate in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh.
Bheema Mandavi, a state legislator from the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was in the convoy when it was attacked by suspected Maoist rebels.
Local media reports say his whereabouts are currently unknown.
Chhattisgarh is due to vote in the first phase of India’s general elections on 11 April.
The mineral-rich state has witnessed an armed conflict for more than three decades and attacks by Maoist rebels on security forces are common.
