Two more CRPF jawans succumbed to their injuries at Jagdalpur hospital early on Wednesday morning taking the total death toll in Tuesday’s Maoist landmine blast in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district to seven, the police said.
Condition of another injured jawan, who was airlifted to Raipur on Wednesday morning along with the deceased troopers, was stated to be critical, CRPF sources said here.
CRPF director, Mr Vijay Raman, arrived here on Wednesday morning to take stock of the situation in the wake of Tuesday’s incident and pay last respects to the martyrs.
The rebels had triggered landmine blast targeting CRPF’s 2nd battalion commander Arvind Ray on the national highway 221 near Borguda on the Sukma-Kerlapal road late on Tuesday evening.
The target, however, missed the commander’s vehicle, but the landmine blast ripped apart his escort car, in which the victims were travelling.
According to Additional Director-General of Police ( anti-Naxal operations) Mr Ramniwas, the Naxals ambushed the CRPF convoy just five km away from Sukma in Dantewada district, when it was returning from Kerlapal after a formal inspection of CRPF camp by commander Mr Ray.
“The explosion was so powerful that the escort vehicle broke into several pieces killing five jawans on the spot. Two of the three critically injured, who were rushed to government hospital at Jagdalpur, headquarters of Bastar district, succumbed during treatment,” he added.
This is the first major attack on CRPF personnel by Naxals in Dantewada district in 2011. Last year, at least 120 CRPF jawans were killed in a series of ambushes by Maoists, including that of Tadmetla massacre in which 75 troopers were gunned down.
Chief minister, Mr Raman Singh, condemned the Naxal violence and said such killings would not dilute his determination to eliminate Maoism from the land of Chhattisgarh.