KOLKATA - A farmer died and at least 12 other people were injured on Saturday when a Soviet-era MiG-27 Indian war plane crashed into a village in eastern India, police said.

The pilot ejected before the crash in Moinagudi village, some 600 kilometres (370 miles) north of the West Bengal state capital Kolkata, Indian Air Force spokesman Rajib Sahoo told AFP.

"The MiG-27 was on a routine sortie when it crashed into the village killing one person and injuring 12 others on the ground," the official said.

Police inspector-general Ranveer Kumar said the farmer was tilling his land when he was struck by the fighter jet which killed him instantly.

Sahoo blamed the crash -- the second involving an Indian MiG-27 since February 16 -- on an unspecified technical fault.

India grounded its fleet of single-seater Mig-25s, bought from the then Soviet Union in the 1980s, after the last crash.

But the military brought them back into operation in June after the aircraft were deemed to be "airworthy."

India hopes to replace its ageing fleet of Soviet-era fighter jets with 123 new military aircraft as part of a 12-billion-dollar purchase project.

BDST: 1544 HRS, July 24, 2010