NEW DELHI, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Three persons were killed after Naxals blew up an oil tanker with an improvised explosive device (IED) in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, police said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred this morning at Kanker district of Chhattisgarh.

Three people including the driver of the vehicle were killed in the blast, police told Xinhua over the phone.

Police said the security personnel reached the spot after getting the information about the incident.

The Naxal insurgency has its genesis in the violent left-wing rebellion that began in 1967 at village Naxalbari in the Indian state of West Bengal. Currently, Naxals are active in more than a third of India's 600-odd districts across the central and eastern parts.

New Delhi has deployed several companies of its paramilitary forces to take on Naxals in their strongholds.