Suspected Maoists on Friday blew up a jeep of Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) by triggering landmine blast in Rajnandgaon border area adjoining Maharashtra, killing at least three jawans and injuring two others, the police said.
Reports reaching here said, at least three tribal schoolchildren were reportedly killed when they were caught in cross-firing between the rebels and the security personnel that followed the Maoist ambush. Eight other schoolchildren also reportedly sustained bullet injuries.
The Maoist attack, which targeted the ITBP for the time, coincided with the maiden visit of the newly appointed director-general (DG) of Central Reserve Police (CRPF), Mr K.Vijay Kumar, to Chhattisgarh.
The incident took place before noon when the ITBP men were returning to their base camp at Kohka in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district after seeing off their officers at Gidchiroli in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh director-general of police Vishwaranjan said.
The rear of the three-vehicle convoy of the ITBP got trapped in the blast and blown away.
“Three ITBP jawans were killed on the spot in the area — half km inside the border of Maharashtra,” the DGP said. The deceased were identified as head constable Joyram, constable Shibu and jeep driver Dinesh Prasad. Two other ITBP personnel travelling the ill-fated jeep were injured and removed to the nearby Manpur hospital in Rajnandgaon district in a critical condition. “This is the first ever casualty suffered by ITBP since their deployment in Chhattisgarh,” a police spokesman said here.
A strong contingent of the police and the CRPF rushed to the spot and a search operation was launched against the ultras.