Maoist landmine kills two troopers in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR - Two troopers were killed and four injured late Sunday when Maoist guerrillas ambushed two paramilitary vehicles and triggered a powerful landmine blast in Chhattisgarh’s restive Bastar region, police said. Over two dozen Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were in the vehicles when a landmine hit one of them and damaged its front portion in Dantewada district, some 350 km south of capital Raipur, said Deputy Inspector General Pawan Deo. Six injured CRPF men were rushed to a hospital in Dantewada where two of them succumbed to their injuries, he said. “The blast was targeted for a massive casualty but it hit only one vehicle. The troopers in the (other) vehicle fired on heavily armed guerrillas who countered the CRPF men for a while before disappearing into nearby forests under cover of darkness,” Deo told IANS. Police officials at Dantewada town said reinforcement of about 80-100 CRPF men besides a strong contingent of state police had reached the site. But a combing operation has been deferred till Monday morning as police suspect Maoists can ambush them if they sneak into forests in night. Forces have been put on high alert in the entire Dantewada district that has witnessed a string of deadly attacks in recent years. Blog Tharanga