At least four Border Security Force (BSF) jawans were on Tuesday killed and two others injured when suspected Maoists triggered landmine explosion at Sunki Ghat near Pattangi in Orissa’s Koraput district, nearly 550 km from here.
The slain jawans were on their way to Visakhapatnam from where they were supposed to board their train to Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
The slain jawans were identified as Yashwant Singh, Birendra Kumar, Surendra Kumar Singh and Gurudayal Singh.
According to the police, the incident occurred at around 9.30 am when the rebels, ensconced in cave in the ghat road, targeted one of the three military vehicles that were proceeding with 18 BSF jawans towards Visakhapatnam.
As soon as two vehicles passed the culvert under which the landmine was planted, the ultras detonated the explosive device. The intensity of the blast was so high that the vehicle flew several metres up in the air and got ripped into several pieces.
The mutilated bodies of the jawans lay scattered at the ambush site.
The injured jawans, who were first admitted to Sunki Hospital, were later shifted to a hospital in Visakhapatnam as their condition worsened.
Sources said the rebels belonging to Koraput-Srikkakulam Committee of the Maoists killed the BSF jawans to take revenge of the killing of their leader Madhav in an encounter on August 23 at Chilliba in Malkangiri district.
Madhav (42), who carried `4 lakh reward on his head, was killed by a joint team of Special Operation Group and central security forces.
Reports from Koraput said, exchange of fire was on between security personnel and ultras, at the blast site. The killing of the BSF jawans was raised in the Assembly by the members of the Opposition Congress and BJP who alleged that the BJD government had failed to contain the growing Left-wing extremism in the state.
Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh sought a statement from chief minister Naveen Patnaik on the incident.
Mr Patnaik, while making a statement in the evening, said the rebels targeted while proceeding to Visakhapatnam. “It’s an act of desperation by the Maoists. The state government is committed to overcome the Maoist challenge by taking strong steps against them,” he said.