Dantewada: CRPF man killed in landmine blast

One of the patrolling teams had detected some electric wires on one of the roads nearby last week. A combing operation was launched after that to detect any landmine in the area. On Monday,an anti-landmine vehicle with eight personnel in it slowed down on a slope and was blown up, said a senior official. He said a huge crater was developed after the explosion.

A helicopter was sent to evacuate the seven others who were critically injured but it developed a snag soon after take-off. Another chopper was pressed into action an hour later and the injured personnel were rushed to Raipur for medical aid.

The blast occurred around 1.20 pm when a 80-personnel strong contingent of security forces was patrolling a place under Arhanpur police station of the district . They were deployed to secure the construction of a road in Arhanpur and were on their way to the spot when the blast took place, said Dantewada SP Narendra Khare.

The mine protected vehicle was totally damaged in the explosion.

The deceased was identified as Kinkar Kanak Nath,a constable posted with the 111 battalion of the CRPF. The injured are Dastgir Patel,D V R Kamle,K M Kayam,Chetan Karande and Bhagat Dilip.

The blast took place in the same area where six CISF personnel posted at the National Mineral Development Corporation were killed in an ambush in May this year.