Picture Courtesy : Rediff.com
In a daring attack by the Naxals as many as nine Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed on their mine-protected vehicle in the Kistaram area in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, according to media reports.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh has strongly condemned the attack on Twitter
My heartfelt condolences to the families of those personnel who lost their lives in Sukma blast. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured jawans. I spoke to DG @crpfindia regarding the Sukma incident and asked him to leave for Chhattisgarh.
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) March 13, 2018
Officials said the incident took place around 12:30 pm along the 5-km under-construction Kistaram-Palodi road when the troops of the 212th battalion of the CRPF were out for an operation.
The home minister spoke to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh who briefed him about the incident, steps taken for the jawans’ treatment and operations to nab those involved.
The armoured MPV had gone about 10-feet into the air and crashed on the ground before splitting into pieces.
All the personnel were killed due to the impact of the blast even as many were thrown out of the vehicle, officials said.
Sukma, considered one of the worst insurgency-hit regions of the state, has witnessed several dreaded attacks on security forces in the past, particularly in summer season during which rebels carry out an annual tactical counter offensive campaign (TCOC).
