One person was killed and 11 others injured after Naxals blew up a sports utility vehicle (SUV) that they were travelling in using an improvised explosive device (IED) in the insurgency-hit Dantewada district, Chhattisgarh, on Thursday, a police official said.
The incident took place at around 7.30 a.m. near Ghotiya village under the Malewadhi police station limits, located around 400 km from Raipur, the State capital, on an under-construction route that connects Narayanpur to Dantewada, the district’s Superintendent of Police, Abhishek Pallava, said.
He said the rebels might have planned to target security forces, but mistakenly attacked the civilian vehicle. Police personnel never use a four-wheeler vehicle while moving on that route, he added.
The official said the victims were on their way to neighbouring Telangana.
“The vehicle, a Bolero, came under the impact of the IED blast, causing injuries to all 12 occupants, including a woman. Of them, two were critically injured, while 10 others received minor injuries,” the official said.
After being alerted, a team of security personnel from a nearby camp rushed to the spot and the injured persons were shifted to the district hospital.
“One of the seriously injured persons, identified as Dhan Singh, who hailed from neighbouring Balaghat district [in Madhya Pradesh], succumbed to his injuries during treatment at the hospital,” the official said.
The victims, belonging to Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh and Balaghat in M.P., were going to Telangana for some personal work, he added.