RAIPUR, India, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The bodies of at least 12 policemen were recovered from a jungle in central India on Friday, a day after Maoist rebels ambushed a security patrol and looted weapons, police said.

The attack occurred in the remote Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh state, the epicentre of the Maoist insurgency.

Police said about two dozen security men had managed to flee Thursday's rebel gunfire and report the attack. But retrieving the bodies of the dead policemen from the dense jungle had been delayed because the area had landmines planted by the rebels.

The Maoists also looted some arms and ammunition from the policemen.

This week, jailed Maoists overpowered guards and freed about 300 prisoners in Chhattisgarh.

The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers, and often attack police patrols and destroy government property.

Thousands of people have been killed in the insurgency, which began in the late 1960s and stretches through the countryside in the east to the central region and some southern states.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the insurgency as the gravest threat to India's internal security. (Reporting by Sujeet Kumar; Writing by Krittivas Mukherjee; Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)

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