Five police personnel were killed and 13 others injured as Maoists blew up a bus in which they were travelling in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district on Tuesday, police officials said.

The landmine explosion took place between Kanhargaon and Kadenar villages in the Dhaudai police station limits.

Personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) were returning in the bus to Narayanpur town, 300 km away from Raipur, after a counter-insurgency operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P said.

“Five DRG personnel, including the driver, were killed,” he said.

On Monday, a joint team of security forces from Narayanpur and neighbouring Dantewada district had launched the anti-Maoist operation along the inter-district border.

Around 3 pm on Tuesday, forces belonging to Narayanpur returned to Kademeta camp in the district following which those belonging to DRG from the district headquarters left in the bus, Sundarraj said.

Around 4.15 pm, the Maoists triggered three IED (improvised explosive device) blasts targeting the bus, which had around 25 personnel, near a culvert. In the impact, the bus fell into the culvert, he said.

Reinforcements rushed to the spot and evacuated the dead and injured from the dense forest. The injured were flown to Raipur in an Indian Air Force chopper for treatment.

The bus was passing along the under construction Barsoor-Palli road which is surrounded by the thick forests of Abhujmad region.

The dead were identified as Head Constables Pavan Mandavi and Jailal Uikey, Constables Karah Dehari and Seval Salaam, and Assistant Constable Vijay Patel, said the officer.