Cop injured in IED blast by Naxals in Chhattisgarh

Raipur: An assistant constable of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) was injured on Tuesday when Naxals denoted an improvised explosive device (IED) in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, a police official said.

The incident took place around 8.30 am when a joint team of various security forces was out on a road security operation near Bodli camp, located over 400 km from the state capital Raipur, Dantewada's Superintendent of Police Abshishek Pallava said.

A team of personnel belonging to the DRG, the Special Task Force (STF) and the Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) had launched the operation on a hypersensitive patch from Bodli towards Kariametta village, he said.

About 650 metres away from the camp, Naxals hiding in a forest triggered an IED blast in which an assistant constable received minor splinter injuries, the official said.

The rebels also exploded another command pipe IED in the area at around 10 am to target security forces, but the latter escaped unhurt, he said.

Later, the security forces cordoned off the entire area and recovered four live IEDs, planted by Naxals, the police official said, adding that a DRG team and a bomb disposal squad were rushed to the site.

The injured cop was evacuated from the spot and provided preliminary treatment, while the operation was still underway, he added.