Chhattisgarh: 2 jawans killed, 5 injured in IED blast triggered by Naxals

CHHATTISGARH: Two security personnel were on Monday killed in an IED attack on a police party vehicle in Chhattisgarh. The incident took place near Chhattisgarh's Bijapur. The IED attack also left five security personnel injured.

"Two security personnel dead, five injured in IED attack on police party vehicle near Bijapur's Kutru," said DM Awasthi, special DG, anti-naxal operations.

#SpotVisuals 2 security personnel dead, 5 injured in IED attack on police party vehicle near Bijapur's Kutru: DM Awasthi, special DG, anti-naxal operations #Chhattisgarh (Visuals deferred by unspecified time) pic.twitter.com/XcfEIQ5h9B — ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2018

The Naxals targeted a bus ferrying nearly 30 jawans with an improvised explosive device (IED) - the second attack on Monday.

Earlier on Monday morning, Naxals had triggered twin IED blasts and opened fire on a patrolling team of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Bijapur-Bhopalpatnam road in the district that led to a gun-battle. No casualty was, however, reported on either side in that incident.

The explosion targeting the bus occurred near Godma village, around 450 kms from the state capital, when the jawans were out on an anti-Maoist operation, police said.

"Two jawans belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG) were killed and five others sustained injuries in the explosion," a senior police official told PTI.

The IED blast damaged the front portion of the bus, which was carrying a squad of at least 30 jawans.

The personnel sitting in the front side bore the brunt of the explosion, he said.

Additional personnel were rushed to the spot soon after the incident and the injured jawans were taken to a hospital in Bijapur, he said.

Notably, the security forces have intensified search operations in the forest in view of the prime minister's visit to Bijapur scheduled on April 14.

On March 13, as many as nine CRPF personnel were killed between Kistaram and Palodi villages in the insurgency-affected Sukma district after a blast carried out by the Naxals targeted their mine-protected vehicle (MPV).

(With inputs from PTI)