NARAYANPUR: Two Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) jawans were on Saturday killed and two other security personnel injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast triggered by Maoists in Abujhmad in Narayanpur district under south Bastar in Chhattisgarh, police said.
A joint search party comprising personnel of ITBP’s 53rd battalion, district force, Bastar Fighters (BF) and district reserve group (DRG) were on a counterinsurgency operation in Abujhmad area in Narayanpur district when Maoists triggered an IED explosion targeting them in Kodaliar forest, Bastar inspector general of police P Sunderraj said.
The incident took place at around 12 ‘O’ clock.
Two ITBP jawans were killed and two personnel of Narayanpur district force injured in the incident, he said.
The two slain jawans have been identified as Amar Panwar (36) who hailed from Satara district in Maharashtra, and K Rajesh, who hailed from Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh, Mr Sunderraj said.
The two injured security personnel were admitted to the hospital and out of danger now, he said.
The incident comes two weeks after security forces gunned down 38 Naxals, the biggest ever fatalities suffered by Maoists in the last 24 years in Chhattisgarh, in an encounter in Thulthuli forest in Abujhmad in Narayanpur district.
The Maoists, slain in the October four encounter in Abujhmad included a member of Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC), an influential formation of Maoists, the commander of the company number six of Naxals, three divisional committee members, 14 members of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) and six area committee members.
The DKSZC member killed in the encounter carried a reward of Rs 25 lakh, while the slain commander of the company number six carried a bounty of Rs ten lakh.
Three slain divisional committee members carried bounties of Rs eight lakh each.