CRPF jawan injured in Maoist IED blast during Chhattisgarh election duty

A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan sustained injuries in an explosion caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) allegedly set up by Maoist insurgents in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Tuesday. The jawan was injured while he was on election duty for the first phase of the Chhattisgarh assembly elections.

The incident took place in the vicinity of the dense Tondamarka forests, a known Maoist stronghold. A collaborative effort involving the CRPF and the Commando Battalions for Resolute Action (CoBRA) 206th battalion was underway, aimed at ensuring security during the electoral process. In this operation, Inspector Shrikant, a member of the CoBRA 206th battalion, unintentionally triggered the IED that had allegedly been planted by the Maoists.

Several seats of the Maoist-dominated area of Bastar fall under the first phase of the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections. The CRPF soldier was injured in the Konta assembly segment, one of the 20 constituencies where voting is taking place in the first phase of the two-phase elections for the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly.

Timings to conduct elections in the state have been slated based on the dominance of Maoist activities in the area. Owing to the imminent Maoist threat, voting in the Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur, and Konta constituencies will take place from 7 am to 3 pm. In the remaining ten constituencies, namely Khairgarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur, Chitrakot, Pandariya, and Kawardha, voting will be conducted from 8 am to 5 pm.


The first phase of the Chattisgarh assembly elections is currently underway; the second phase will be conducted in ten days' time, on November 17. For the first phase of elections, a total of 5,304 polling booths have been established, and 25,249 polling personnel have been deployed to prevent any untoward activities.