Two days after the first phase of elections in Chhattisgarh, Maoists on Saturday killed 15 people, including six CRPF personnel and seven polling officials, in two separate incidents in the Bastar district of the state.

Police sources said an ambulance driver and a technician were also among those killed.

In the first incident, Maoists used an improvised explosive device (IED) to blow up a bus with polling officials on-board when it was travelling between Kutru and Gudma in Bijapur district.

Six polling personnel died on the spot, while one succumbed to injuries at a hospital, Additional DGP R K Vij, in charge of counter-Maoist operations, told Deccan Herald.
The explosion took place around 11 am, when the polling party was close to Ketulnar village.

It was returning to its base after conducting polls in far-flung areas inside the forests of Bastar. Just hours later, eight people travelling in an ambulance, including six CRPF personnel, were killed in another explosion near Kamanar in Bastar district.

The slain CRPF personnel were identified as Inspector.

M K Rai, Assistant Sub-Inspector Kanti Bhai, Head Constables Sitaram and M Umlesh, and Constable Dinesh from 80 battalions. “In both incidents, vehicles were blown off by IED blasts,” Vij said. While three were injured in Bijapur, the blast at Darbha Valley left five men injured. Safe retraction of security and polling officials on April 24, the end of the three-phase poll in Chhattisgarh, remains a big challenge in the state.