An officer of the CRPF's elite CoBRA unit was injured on Sunday when an IED planted by Maoists exploded while it was being defused in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, police said.
The incident took place between Pallodi and Kistaram villages around 10.40 am when a team of 208th Battalion of the CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) was on a demining operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P said.
The CoBRA is an elite jungle warfare unit of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
During the operation, the paramilitary personnel spotted an improvised explosive device (IED). When they were engaged in defusing the IED buried under the ground, it suddenly went off, he said.
"Deputy Commandant Vikas received splinter injuries," he said. He was first rushed to the Kistaram field hospital of the CRPF and then flown to Raipur for treatment.
An Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) trooper was injured in an IED blast on Saturday in neighboring Narayanpur district. On October 30, an ITBP constable was injured in a similar explosion triggered by Naxalites, also in Narayanpur district.