In a major attack on CRPF jawans by the Naxals in the poll-bound Chhattisgarh, as many as 4 jawans were killed. Two other CRPF soldiers are critically injured in the improvised explosive attack or IED attack and have been rushed to the nearby hospital for medical treatment.
The soldiers were out for an area domination exercise in a bulletproof vehicle when the Maoists opened fired on them, followed by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion, a CRPF official said.
“The incident occurred around 4 pm near Murdanda camp of the CRPF under Awapalli police station, when its 168th battalion was out on area domination operation,” Bijapur Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg told PTI. The Maoists triggered a powerful landmine blast when the mine-protected vehicle (MPV) carrying six personnel was around one km away from the camp, he further added.
“Four paramilitary personnel were killed and two others were injured in the blast,” he said. Reinforcement was hurried to the site of the incident promptly and the injured personnel were being evacuated, the official said, adding they were retrieving the bodies from the site.
The massive attack on CRPF took place on a day when Chief Minister Raman Singh launched the ruling BJP’s campaign for the first phase of polls on November 12.
Chhattisgarh is slated to go to the polls in two phases. The first phase of election will cover 18 constituencies in eight Naxal-affected districts – Bastar, Kanker, Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, Kondagaon, and Rajnandgaon and the remaining districts will go to polls on November 20.
As the election season approaches, there’s high buoyancy in the nefarious activities by Naxals in Chhattisgarh. Last month, Maoists beat up 35 villagers for skipping their meet. Naxals had recently put up posters in parts of Bastar and Kankar regions cautioning people to avoid the polls, failing which could lead to mortal danger for them.