2 ITBP Jawans Killed in Naxal IED Blast in Bastar
NARAYANPUR: Two Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) jawans were killed on Saturday 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 the Abujhmad area of Narayanpur district when Maoists triggered an IED explosion targeting them in Kodaliar forest, Bastar inspector general of police P. Sunderraj said.
In the blast that took place at around noon, two ITBP jawans were killed and two personnel of the Narayanpur district force injured in the incident, he said.
The two slain jawans have been identified as Amar Panwar (36) who hails from Satara district in Maharashtra and K. Rajesh (36), from Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh, Mr Sunderraj said, adding that the two injured security personnel were admitted to the hospital and out of danger now.
The incident comes two weeks after the security forces gunned down 38 Naxals, one of 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 4 encounter in Abujhmad included a member of the 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 and six area committee members.
The DKSZC member killed in the encounter carried a reward of Rs 25 lakhs, while the slain commander of company number six carried a bounty of Rs 10 lakhs. The three slain divisional committee members carried bounties of Rs 8 lakhs each.