One CISF jawan and four civilians lost their lives on Thursday after suspected Naxals blew up a bus with an improvised explosive device (IED) near Bacheli in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada.
Two personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) were also injured in the incident, according to Dantewada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava. They have been rushed to the nearby Apollo Hospital.
The explosion took place in a hilly area in Bacheli in Dantewada when the personnel were returning to their camp after purchasing groceries from market, he said.
The civilians killed in the blast included the bus' driver, conductor and cleaner, Pallava said.
The personnel belonged to a CISF unit that has been deployed in the area for the first phase of the forthcoming polls in the state.
The attack comes before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit on Friday to Jagdalpur district, about 100 km from Dantewada, to campaign for the BJP.
The private bus, which was targeted, was allotted to the CISF team deployed in the Bailadila mining area of the National Mining Development Corporation in Dantewada for election duty.
On October 30, three police personnel and a cameraman of national broadcaster Doordarshan were killed in a Maoist attack in Dantewada's Aranpur area. Before that, on October 27, four Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and two others injured after Maoists blew up their bulletproof bunker vehicle in Bijapur district.
Naxalites have asked voters to boycott the upcoming state Assembly polls, being held over two phases on November 12 and November 20.
The first phase is to be held in 18 Naxal affected constituencies of Bastar region, that falls in the southern part of the central Indian state.
The remaining 72 constituencies will go to the polls on November 20 and the votes will be counted on December
Watch: 5 killed Naxal attack in Dantewada
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