Bijapur, Aug 5 (PTI) A 24-year-old man sustained injuries after an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by Naxalites went off in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Tuesday, police said.
This is the second such incident in the district in the last 48 hours.
The blast occurred around 8 am when the victim, Pramod Kakem, had gone to a rivulet for a bath near Gunjeparti village under the Usoor police station limits, an official said.
He inadvertently came in contact with the IED, which exploded, causing injuries to his palms, he said.
The official said Kakem, a resident of the Ilmidi police station area, had gone to his relative’s place in Gunjeparti.
The injured villager was provided preliminary treatment and shifted to a community health centre in Usoor, he added.
In a similar blast on Monday, a 50-year-old man was injured in a forest near Pujarikanker village under the Usoor police station limits while he was grazing cattle, police said.
The Maoists often plant IEDs on dirt tracks to target security personnel who use such routes during anti-Naxalite operations inside forests. Civilians have fallen prey to such traps laid by ultras in the past in the Bastar region, police said.
Police have appealed to the public to exercise extra caution when visiting forest areas and to immediately report any suspicious objects or activities to the nearest police station or security camp.
On July 13, three persons, including a minor girl, were injured in a similar incident in the Madded area of Bijapur.
Around 27 people have lost their lives in Maoist violence in the Bastar region, comprising seven districts, including Bijapur, so far this year. PTI COR TKP ARU
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