7 jawans killed as Maoists blow up police vehicle in Dantewada
Seven state police jawans were killed on Sunday morning when Maoists allegedly blew up their vehicle with an improvised explosive device (IED) in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district, the police said. The Maoists also looted six automatic rifles of the dead police personnel before fleeing into the jungles.
While five policemen died on the spot in the blast, the two injured jawans were airlifted to Raipur where they died a few hours later during treatment, the police said.
Special director general of police (Anti-Naxal Operations) DM Awasthi confirmed the seven deaths in Dantewada, adding that the Maoists targeted the team of state police jawans who were escorting a truck carrying material for road construction in the area.
“For the last one year, construction of the Kirandul and Arangpur road was stopped but we have restarted it just a few days ago. The jawans were
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escorting a truck which was laden with building material when the Maoists targeted them at a culvert between Cholnar and Kirandul village,” said Awasthi.
“The Maoists have looted two Insas rifles, two SLRs and two AK-47 and other equipments from the spot,” Awasthi added.
The jawans who were killed in the blast have been identified as Ram Kumar Yadav (head constable), Tikeshwar Dhruve (constable), Saligraam (assistant constable), Vikram Yadav (assistant constable), Rajesh Singh (constable ), VIrendra Singh (constable) and Arjun Rajbhar (constable)
In April, security forces had killed eight Maoists, including five women, in a forest in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district. This followed a major operation in neighbouring Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli that left 39 rebels dead.