9 die as Naxals blow up police vehicle in Bastar

Eight personnel of the District Reserve Guard (DRG), a police unit, and a civilian driver were killed after Naxals blew up their vehicle with a powerful improvised explosive device (IED) in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Monday, official sources said.

This is the biggest strike by Maoists on security forces in nearly two years in Chhattisgarh and the first this year.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in a post on X, expressed grief over the incident and asserted: “I want to assure that the sacrifice of jawans will not go waste and by March 2026, Naxalism will be wiped out from the face of India.”

The DRG personnel from Dantewada district were returning in an SUV after an anti-Naxalite operation when the IED was detonated near Ambeli village under the Kutru police station around 2.15 pm, said Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P. All eight DRG men travelling in the SUV and the driver were killed on the spot. The DRG personnel are mostly recruited from local tribal population and also from surrendered Naxalites. Reinforcement was rushed to the spot and the bodies were shifted out, he said, adding a search operation has been launched by security forces in the area.

The DRG personnel were part of an anti-Naxalite operation carried out by joint teams of security personnel for three days on the borders of Narayanpur, Dantewada and Bijapur districts, the IG said. Five Naxals were killed in the operation, while one DRG head constable also lost his life, he said. CM Vishnu Deo Sai expressed grief at the loss of life and said “our fight to end the menace will continue strongly”. In the last major assault, 10 police personnel and a civilian were killed after Naxals blew up their vehicle in neighbouring Dantewada on April 26, 2023.