Five BSF jawans and one civilian were injured in an IED blast triggered by the Naxals in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur on Wednesday. Two of the soldiers are said to be critical.

The Naxals had set off an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), P Sundarraj, DIG, Anti-Naxal Operations was quoted as saying by ANI.

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All the injured have been admitted to a hospital in Bijapur.

Exchange of fire is underway between the security forces and the Naxals, he said, adding that the situation was under control.

On Monday, two personnel of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) were injured in a gunfight between security forces and Maoists in Bijapur district.

Bijapur was among 18 constituencies that voted in the first phase of the assembly elections in Chhattisgarh on November 12. The remaining 72 constituencies will go to polls on November 20.

The counting of votes will be taken up on December 11.

Naxals have given calls for a boycott of the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections, and carried out several attacks in the run-up to the polls, killing 13 people.

Ahead of the polls, Naxals detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) in Kanker district killing on Monday, a Border Security Force sub-inspector. A Maoist was gunned down in an encounter in Bijapur district.

Naxal outfits have executed over half-a-dozen attacks in the last 15 days, leaving 13 people dead, including a cameraman of Doordarshan who was covering the election campaign.