The security personnel were travelling in a vehicle that was blown off. This is the first big retaliation by naxalites since security forces killed around 40 members in Gadchiroli encounter in April
A view of the 212 CRPF Battalion anti-landmine vehicle that was blown up by Maoists in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on March 13, 2018. At least nine CRPF personnel were killed and two injured in the incident. (Photo: IANS/file)
Six security personnel were killed in an IED blast, suspected to be triggered by Naxals, in Cholnar Village of Dantewada in Chhattisgarh, said officials.
According to the reports, 3 Chhattisgarh Armed Force jawans and 2 District Force jawans died in the attack.
Two jawans have been reported to be injured.
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DIG (Dantewada Range) Ratan Lal Dangi said the Naxals triggered the blast between Cholnar and Kirandul villages when a joint team of the Chhattisagarh Armed Force and the District Force, in an SUV, was escorting a vehicle carrying material for road construction work.
“Three personnel belonging to the CAF and two of the District Force were killed in the IED blast while two others sustained injuries,” the official said.
The ultras also looted the weapons of the police personnel, he said, adding that reinforcement was rushed to the spot soon after the incident.
Road construction work is underway between Kirandul and Palnar villages in Dantewada.
In April, security forces had reportedly killed around 40 Naxals in Gadchiroli encounter.
The encounters took place on April 22 and 23, in which 34 and 6 Naxals respectively were killed, an official said.
In May, the Gadchiroli district collector Shekhar Singh had ordered a magisterial inquiry into the two encounters in which 40 Naxals were killed.
The inquiry has been ordered as per the provision under section 176 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), Singh told PTI.
“The sub divisional magistrates of Etapalli and Aheri teshils, in which the encounters took place, will conduct the probe, which is a routine process after any encounter, and submit their reports to the administration,” another official said.
The probe had come in the backdrop of allegations that security forces killed “innocent villagers” by poisoning their meals.
Civil rights activists had questioned the authenticity of the encounters as not a single jawan was injured in both the encounters.
The CPI (ML) Liberation sought a judicial inquiry while a noted Telugu poet and civil rights activist Varavara Rao demanded a judicial inquiry with either a sitting or a retired Supreme Court judge.
(With agency inputs)
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