Blast by Maoists kills 3 BSF jawans, 1 civilian in Odisha

At least three BSF personnel and one civilian were killed on Wednesday morning in a landmine blast triggered by Maoists in Odisha’s Malkangiri district. Six other BSF men were severely injured in the attack and rushed to the Malkangiri district hospital.

Fresh enforcement of state police and BSF rushed to the spot after the incident and started extensive search of the area.

The Maoists triggered the landmine after the BSF team landed at a ghat after crossing Chitrakonda reservoir by a boat. Soon after the blast, some Maoists ambushed the personnel and fired at them. A villager was also killed in the ambush. When the BSF men returned the fire, the Maoists fled into the forest.

On August 1, security personnel had killed three Maoists in an encounter in the district.

Malkangiri, bordering Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, is the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist)’s main stronghold in Odisha. One of CPI (Maoist)’s most powerful committees, Andhra-Odisha Border Special Zonal Committee, has its base in Malkangiri.

This is the first major attack by Maoists on security forces in the state in the last three years. Last week, a CRPF jawan was killed and two were injured in an encounter with the rebels at Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, neighbouring Malkangiri.