2 BSF jawans killed in Chhattisgarh IED blast by Naxals

Two Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were killed in an IED blast triggered by Naxals in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh on Monday when they were patrolling the area on a motorcycle, police said.

The incident took place at around 5 pm in the forest of Tabouli village under Chhotebethiya police station limits when a team of the BSF's 121 battalions was out on an area domination operation on motorcycles, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Anti-Naxal Operation) Sundarraj P told PTI over the phone.

When the team was passing through a dirt track near Tadbauli, about 7km from the BSF's Marbeda camp, the motorcycle was blown away in the blast carried out by the Naxals using an improvised explosive device (IED) hidden underground, he said.

The jawans were seriously injured and died while being taken out of the forest, the DIG added.

They were identified as Santosh Laxman and Vijay Nand Nayak, both natives of Karnataka, the IPS officer said.

Soon after getting information about the blast, reinforcement was rushed to spot, located 300km from the state capital Raipur, he said.

A search operation has been launched to trace the Naxals involved in the attack, Sundarraj added.