Several jawans of the Special Operations Group (SOG) were reportedly injured in an IED explosion during a search operation at Nalikumpa jungle under Boudh’s Kantamal police limits on Thursday.
It is suspected that the IED was planted by Maoists.
Following the explosion, the injured jawans were shifted to Kantamal Community Health Centre (CHC) for treatment. They were later taken to Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital in Bolangir. While one jawan sustained injuries to his head, another suffered serious wounds on his leg.
As per reports, a 30-member team of SOG jawans started a combing operation in Nalikumpa jungle to weed out Maoists in the area. However, they fell victim to the IED planted by the ultras.
In another Maoist violence, the ultras slit the throat of a Water Resource Department employee at Orchha under Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district, killing him on the spot.
The deceased has been identified as Iqbal Miyan.
Maoist posters were also recovered from the spot.
It is pertinent to mention here that an encounter between security forces and Maoist ultras had taken place in Nalikumpa jungle on January 23.
While a Maoist camp was destroyed by the police after the gunfight, the security forces also seized a huge cache of arms and explosives including land mines from the camp.
Notably, the Maoists have reportedly made the jungles between Boudh and Kandhmal districts their den. The security forces regularly conduct search and combing operations in the jungle to weed out the ultras from the area.