A Border Security Force (BSF) officer and a jawan were killed in Odisha on Friday when Naxals triggered an IED blast while they were on a bike patrol in the jungles of Koraput district.
The Naxal strike came on a day when Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik termed Left Wing Extremism(LWE) as a major cause of concern for Odisha, adding recent activities of Maoists in Bolangir, Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Boudh districts was worrisome and needed to be handled effectively.
The incident occurred at around 1:00 PM when a team of about 20 Border Security Force(BSF) personnel were returning from a search operation in Dandabari village on 10 motorcycles and the first carrying the team commander and his jawan got trapped in the blast carried out by using a hidden bomb on the dirt track of Kaliajhula forests.
The jawan driving the bike, constable S P Panda, was killed on the spot while pillion rider and commander of the squad Deputy Commandant Sunil Kumar Behra succumbed to his injuries later at Koraput district headquarter hospital.
"The two men sustained fatal injuries from shrapnels and heavy explosives used in the IED cleverly hidden and planted under the road by Naxals. A big crater was created at the spot where the bike was blown off," officials said.