Chhattisgarh: CRPF Jawan sustains injuries in IED blast by Naxals in Bijapur

Bijapur (Chhattisgarh) [India], January 11 (ANI): A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan has been injured as improvised explosive device (IED) laid down by the Naxalites exploded in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Saturday, officials said.
This happened after a team of CRPF from 196 Battalion Mahadev Ghat had left for the forest to carry out area domination in the morning. During the operations, one jawan was injured due to an IED blast.
The injured jawan has been admitted to the District Hospital Bijapur for treatment.
Earlier, the bodies of three Naxals and several weapons have been recovered from the encounter that took place in the Sukma-Bijapur border in Chhattisgarh, an official said.
"Bodies of three Naxals and weapons recovered. The search operation is still underway," said SP Sukma Kiran Chavan.
The encounter between security forces and Naxals broke out in the forest at the Sukma-Bijapur border in Chhattisgarh on Thursday.
Superintendent of Police of Sukma, Kiran Chavan, said the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF) and the Central Reserve Police Force's jungle warfare unit (CoBRA) teams are involved in the encounter.
Chhattisgarh Deputy CM Vijay Sharma reacted to the encounter and informed that the search operation is still underway."Security forces have had success in their operations in Sukma. Today, the bodies of 3 Naxals have been recovered from there. The search operation is continuing there," he said.
This comes after eight jawans were killed in an IED blast by Maoists earlier. The security personnel carried out demining exercises to prevent such incidents from happening in the incident.
The demining exercise focuses on removing the unexploded land mines that may pose a threat to civilians as well.
The forces have deployed personnel in heavy numbers at the location of the incident. The blast was so powerful that it created a huge hole and cracks in the concrete road. Similarly, the remains of the vehicle were scattered for several meters.
Eight jawans from the District Reserve Guards (DRG) and one civilian driver were killed in an IED blast triggered by the Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Monday, an official said.
According to Bastar Inspector General (IG) Sundarraj P, the jawans were returning from a joint operation of Dantewada, Narayanpur and Bijapur police when the blast occurred.
Meanwhile, expressing deep sorrow over the loss of lives of District Reserve Guard (DRG) personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur IED blast earlier on Monday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah reaffirmed the Central government's commitment to assuring that the sacrifices of these soldiers will not go in vain and Naxalism will be eradicated from Indian soil by March 2026.
Shah took to X to extend his condolences to the bereaved families after the news circulated about the tragic incident in which eight personnel of the DRG and their civilian driver lost their lives when Naxalites detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) targeting their vehicle on the Kutru-Bedre road in Bijapur district.
"I am deeply saddened by the news of losing DRG personnel in the IED blast in Bijapur (Chhattisgarh). I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families of the brave soldiers. It is impossible to express this grief in words, but I assure you that the sacrifices of our soldiers will not go in vain. We will eradicate Naxalism from Indian soil by March 2026," Shah said.
The attack occurred as the DRG team was returning from an anti-Naxal operation. The powerful explosion destroyed the vehicle, leading to the immediate deaths of all nine occupants. This marks one of the deadliest attacks on security forces in the region in recent times. (ANI)