Eight DRG jawaans killed in an ambush by naxalites in Bijapur

New Delhi, January 6

In one of the biggest attacks in last two years, eight District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawans and a driver were killed after Naxals blew up their vehicle using an improvised explosive device (IED) in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district. 

The blast occurred on the Bedre-Kutru Road in the district. The security personnel were returning from an operation when the incident happened, police said. 

The police added that the security personnel were returning to the base camp from a joint operation of Dantewada, Narayanpur, and Bijapur when, at around 2.15 pm on January 6, unidentified Maoists detonated an IED near Ambeli village. 

Chhattisgrah Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said, "My condolences are with the families of the martyrs. I pray to God for peace to the souls of the martyred soldiers and to provide strength to the bereaved families. 

The Naxalites are frustrated with the ongoing Naxal eradication campaign in Bastar and are perpetrating such cowardly acts out of frustration. The martyrdom of the soldiers will not go in vain, our fight to end Naxalism will continue strongly. 

This comes a day after five Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bastar. The gunfight broke out on January 4 at a forest in south Abujhmaad along the border of Narayanpur and Dantewada districts when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxalite operation.