At least nine people, including eight Dantewada District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawans and one driver, were killed after their vehicle was blown up by Naxals through an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Monday, police 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.

The incident took place near Ambeli village under the Kutru police station when the security personnel were returning in their Scorpio vehicle after an anti-Naxalite operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P said.

The DRG is a unit of the state police. This is the biggest strike on security personnel by Naxalites in the last two years, an official said.

On April 26, 2023, ten police personnel and a civilian driver were killed after Naxals blew up their vehicle, which was part of a convoy carrying security personnel in neighbouring Dantewada district.

(With agencies inputs)