Raipur: Seven members of a polling team and five CRPF personnel were among 14 killed as Naxals struck twice today in a break of less than an hour, blowing up a bus and an ambulance in Bijapur and Bastar districts of Chhattisgarh.
Ten persons, including five paramilitary personnel, were also injured in the two incidents.
The Naxals attacked the polling team near Ketulnar village under Kutru police station limits of Bijapur at about 11 AM when it was returning after voting in the region, leaving seven polling personnel dead and five injured, Additional Director General of Police (Naxal Operation) R K Vij told PTI.
Polling was held in Naxal-affected Bastar constituency on April 10.
When the election team reached near a pond in Ketulnar village between Gudma and Kutru, Naxals triggered a landmine blast and opened indiscriminate firing, he said. “Six polling personnel were killed on the spot while another succumbed to injuries at a local hospital,” the ADG added.
After preliminary treatment at a local hospital, the injured polling officials were airlifted and admitted to a private hospital in Raipur for further treatment, he said. The rebels fled deeper into the forest after security personnel launched a retaliatory attack. Reinforcements were rushed to the spot soon after getting the news of the incident and the victims were retrieved from the dense forest, he said.
