Chhattisgarh’s Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Sunday expressed grief at the death of two security personnel due to an IED blast carried out by Naxalites in Sukma district of the state.

The Chief Minister regarded this Naxal attack as a ‘cowardly act out of frustration’ due to the ongoing Naxal eradication campaign in Bastar.

Meanwhile, he also prayed to God for the peace of the departed soul and to provide strength to their families.

In a post to X, the Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai wrote in Hindi, “Sad news is coming about the death of 2 Cobra soldiers in the IED blast carried out by Naxalites in Tekalgudem of Sukma district. I pray to God for peace to the souls of the deceased soldiers and to provide strength to their 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, we will not sit quiet until Naxalism is eradicated.”

Meanwhile, the Additional Superintendent of the Police of Sukma district, Akash Rao said, “Under the Jagargunda police station limits in Sukma district, between Silger and Tekulagudem, in the afternoon of Sunday, Naxalites blew up security vehicles in an IED blast in which two jawans of CRPF CoBRA 201 battalion lost their lives. The CoBRA battalion of CRPF and the police team have reached to the spot. The bodies of the two jawans have been brought out safely. The search operation is underway at the location.”

Earlier, in the day, two jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed in an IED blast planted by Naxalites between Silger and Tekulagudem, under the limits of Jagargunda Police Station in the Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.

The killed security personnel were identified as Vishnu R (35), hailing from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala while the other jawan was identified as Shailendra (29) who hailed from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

The security personnel were part of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) 201 battalion.

According to the information received, the incident occurred at 3 pm on Sunday, when these jawans were on Road Opening Duty from Camp Silger (under Jagargunda police station area) to Camp Tekalgudem and the blast of the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by Naxalites claimed their lives.

The IED was planted by Naxalites on the way from Camp Silger to Tekalgudem to cause harm to the security forces. (ANI)