Chhattisgarh Armed Force constable killed in IED blast in Bijapur

A constable of the Chhattisgarh Armed Force was killed on Monday after an improvised explosive device allegedly planted by suspected Maoists went off, reported Hindustan Times.

The blast occurred between Toynar and Farsegarh villages, where a Chhattisgarh Armed Force team was providing security to road construction workers, PTI quoted an unidentified police officer as saying.

The constable, 26-year-old Manoj Kumar, was part of the Chhattisgarh Armed Force’s 19th battalion.

A search operation has been launched in the area.

On April 9, a Central Reserve Police Force jawan was injured in a similar improvised explosive device blast in Bijapur.

A 40-year-old Adivasi woman was killed in an improvised explosive device blast on March 30 in the same district.

A total of 135 suspected Maoists have been killed in gunfights with security personnel this year. In 2024, 217 suspected Maoists were killed by security forces.

Malini Subramaniam has reported for Scroll that while many of those killed in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region in 2024 were declared by the police to be reward-carrying Maoists, several families dispute the claim. The families claim that the persons killed were civilians.
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