The tribals were on way to their village of Kodre in Bijapur district after visiting “Fagun Mela”, a summer festival, in district headquarters of Dantewada in south Bastar, when the incident took place.

Bhopal: Nine tribals were critically wounded when Maoists blew up a van in which they were travelling by triggering improvised explosive device (IED) blast at Nemed in south Bastar district of Bijapur in Chhattisgarh.

The tribals were on way to their village of Kodre in Bijapur district after visiting “Fagun Mela”, a summer festival, in district headquarters of Dantewada in south Bastar, when the incident took place, a senior police officer posted in Bastar division told this newspaper.

“Reinforcement along with an ambulance rushed to the spot. The incident took place at around 9.10 in the evening. Detail reports were still awaited,” the police officer said.

This was the second major Naxal attack in last one week ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.