HYDERABAD: A land mine blast triggered by suspected Maoist rebels killed at least three people in southern India early Friday, but its presumed main target, a key governing Congress party lawmaker, was unscathed, an official said. The mine, hidden under a small highway bridge, went off as N.Janardhan Reddy, the former top-elected official of southern Andhra Pradesh state, moved along with his supporters in a convoy of 50cars in his native Nellore district, said state Home Minister K.Jana Reddy.

Another five people were wounded in the blast, which missed Reddy's vehicle, but hit one of the accompanying cars near Vidyanagar, a village nearly 550 kilometers (340 miles) south of Hyderabad, the state capital, the home minister told foreign news agency.

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