Wednesday, February 29, 2012

4 BSF men killed in Naxal blast-ToI-11.2.12


2 Sustain Serious Injuries; Narrow Escape For Irrigation Officials

Seeleru (Visakhapatnam): 
Four Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, including a commandant, were killed and two others sustained serious injuries when Maoists triggered an improvised explosive devise (IED) near Chitrakonda close to Seeleru border in Visakhapatnam district on Friday. 
    The security personnel died on the spot in the massive blast at Janniguda main road between Balimela and Chitrakonda, 32 km from here. A Bolero in which they were travelling was mangled after it was tossed up high in the air. The jawans were returning to Malkangiri from Chitrakonda. 
    The guerrillas also opened indiscriminate fire on another vehicle, which was following the Bolero, suspecting it to be a vehicle of jawans. Four officials working in Potteru irrigation project had a narrow escape as they immediately drove back the vehicle and informed the authorities about the incident. 
    Sources said the BSF personnel visited Chitrakonda and the tunnel camp areas en route to Balimela in the afternoon and were returning when the Naxals struck. “The blast was powerful enough to toss-up the big Bolero in the air before hurtling down from a height of 20-feet,” sources said. 
    The deceased have been identified as commandant of 107 battalion Jeevanram Kesavan, his second-in-command Rajesh Soren, inspector Ashok Yadav and assistant sub-inspector and radio operator of the squad Jitendra Singh. The injured jawans were Vishnu Pani and S Kundu. The bodies of deceased personnel and injured were shifted to the Malkangiri government hospital. 
    Police suspect that the blast was the handiwork of Malkangiri division committee. “This was an effort of Maoists to instill confidence among the cadres whose confidence levels have dipped with arrests and surrenders of leaders in the recent months,” a police official said. 
    The Orissa government has been carrying out massive combing operations with the help of BSF jawans in the past few months as the security personnel had unearthed more than 15 dumps of Maoists. The jungles are a naxal hotbed as it touches the borders of two states - Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh - making it a safe corridor for Maoists.

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