Twelve Central Reserve Police Force personnel, including three sub-inspectors, were killed and at least 28 constables were injured after armed Naxalites triggered a blast in their bus on an inter-state road in Dhanora taluka in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district Tuesday morning.
CRPF officials said around 40 kg of explosives were used.
At around 11.30 am, the bus carrying 40 CRPF men was on the Karfawa-Gatta Road near Pustela village when the Naxals triggered a container bomb placed below the road. “The Naxals dug a 10-foot deep tunnel below the road and placed the bomb, connected with a wire, in it. They then hid around 200 feet away and detonated the bomb when the bus was just above it,” said CRPF commandant Ashok Samyal.
The blast’s impact was such that two officers were thrown up into an electric wire around 110 feet above the ground. The 12 dead were from the CRPF’s 192 Battalion.