By IANS,
Raipur : Three troopers of paramilitary force Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) were killed while another was injured in a powerful landmine blast triggered by Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district Friday, police said.
Dantewada Superintendent of Police Ankit Garg said the troopers were returning from Dantewada to Assam, in a convoy, when their vehicle hit the landmine planted on National Highway (NH)-16 near Geedam, about 350 km south of Raipur. The highway connects Jagdalpur town to Nizamabad in Andhra Pradesh.
Two troopers, including the driver, died on the spot while another succumbed to his injuries on way to the hospital, Garg said. The injured trooper was admitted to a government hospital in Jagdalpur where his condition is reported to be critical.
The mining of NH-16 that was comparatively untouched by Maoist activities has shocked the authorities. Police are investigating how the rebels could manage to plant landmine on the road where traffic was regular and heavy.
The vehicular movement on the road, on which iron ore of National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) is also transported, came to a halt following panic after the blast but resumed later.