(Recasts with landmine blasts, adds details) RAIPUR, India, June 5 (Reuters) - Landmine blasts, blamed on Maoist rebels, killed at least five people in India on Tuesday, soon after the insurgents bombed electricity transmission towers plunging thousands of homes into darkness. In the central state of Chhattisgarh, at least three workers of the state electricity board were killed when the truck in which they were travelling hit a landmine. They were on their way to repair damage after Maoist rebels blew up eight electricity transmission towers in the state since Friday. Five policemen were also injured in Tuesday's blast in Narayanpur district in the south of the state, police said. In another Maoist attack, two policemen were killed in the eastern state of Bihar after stepping on a landmine while scouring the forest for rebels, police said. In Chhattisgarh, the Maoist bombings of electricity towers have left thousands of homes and many hospitals across four southern districts without power, an official said, with supply expected to remain cut for at least a week. The blasts have also disrupted water supplies in the region. The state-run National Mineral Development Corporation, one of several companies mining iron ore in the region, said production had come to a halt following the attacks. The Maoists say they are fighting for the rights of millions of poor peasants and landless labourers in India. Thousands of people have been killed since the Maoists began their insurgency in the late 1960s. Their activities have spread to at least 13 of India's 29 states, with mineral-rich Chhattisgarh being the worst affected. Last week, landmines planted by Maoist rebels in Chhattisgarh killed at least nine police officers. (Additional reporting by a Reuters reporter in Patna)
