A District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawan was injured on Monday when an improvised explosive device (IED) laid by Naxals went off in the insurgency hit Dantewada district, police said.
The explosion occurred at Hiroli village where a police road opening party (ROP) was deployed, a senior police official said.
Around 50 administrative officials, including Dantewada Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhishek Pallava, and others had gone to Hiroli for carrying out a probe into the alleged fake gram sabha held in 2014 for approval of mining in iron ore deposit no.13 of the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC). The iron ore deposit falls in the Hiroli gram panchayat area.
In view of the visit of administrative officials, an ROP of security forces was deployed to clear the road.
A jawan who was part of the ROP inadvertently stepped on a pressure IED placed under a dirt track outside the village, located around 450 km from here, triggering the blast that left him injured, the official said.
The injured jawan was being shifted to a local hospital for treatment, he added.