Three die in suspected Maoist attack in Andhra Pradesh

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Suspected Maoist rebels killed three people in a landmine attack in Andhra Pradesh on Friday but missed a regional politician they were targeting, police said.

The guerrillas detonated a mine under the convoy of a former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, destroying one of the cars and killing the occupants.

"N. Janardhana Reddy and his wife are safe," police official Laxmi Reddy told Reuters by phone from near the attack site.

Reddy and his wife, who is a state minister, were on their way to a holy southern Indian town.

Police suspected the involvement of the Maoists, who control vast tracts of forest straddling Andhra Pradesh and the neighbouring states of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The rebels, who began an armed movement four decades ago, claim they are fighting for the rights of poor and landless labourers. They are active in 13 of India's 29 states.