In a yet another attack ahead of the November 12 elections in Chhattisgarh, Naxals have triggered an IED blast on a bus near Bacheli in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada area causing multiple casualties. 3 civilians and 1 CISF personnel have lost their lives in the incident. 2 other injured CISF personnel were reportedly rushed to the nearby hospital in Bacheli for treatment.
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The attack occurred ahead of the visits by PM Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi to Bastar region, just days before the state goes to polls. Maoists on Thursday triggered an improvised explosive device (IED) killing four persons including a security personnel at Bacheli in the Naxal-infested Dantewada district, about 430 km south of Raipur. Reports have stated the CISF personnel were out to buy vegetables and grocery for the camp.
As per the Dantewada superintendent of police Abhishek Pallava’s interview to The New Indian Express, the Naxalites targeted a CISF vehicle detonating a powerful IED blast killing one Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) jawan and three civilians, a driver, conductor, and cleaner of the mini-bus, on the spot. Two jawans have reportedly sustained injuries.
The CISF personnel are deployed in the region to safeguard the network of NMDC installations and its operational units. The attack comes a day ahead of PM Modi’s rally in Jagdalpur and three days before the first phase of the polls is scheduled to start on 12 November. As top security mechanisms are deployed for election safety and for major rallies in the state, the attack has come as a shocker.
Earlier, Naxals had put up posters and pamphlets across the poll-bound Chhattisgarh warning locals to steer clear of the elections. The Naxals have recently attacked a patrolling car in which 2 CRPF personnel and a Doordarshan TV cameraman lost their lives. This attack comes just 2 days after 62 Naxals surrendered themselves to the Police.