Malkangiri (Orissa), November 13: Three CRPF personnel including an officer, were killed in a landmine blast triggered by Maoists in Orissa in the south of
Malkangiri district on Friday.
The explosion took place in Maoist dominated MV-66 area, about 40 km from here, when a van carrying CRPF personnel was on track to Kalimela likely to pick Gompagunda rations, Malkangiri Superintendent of Police said Satyabrata Bhoi .
The mine was placed in a culvert and exploded as the vehicle passes over it, he said.
CRPF deputy commander Bhupinder Singh was one of three CRPF men killed.
The attack is believed to be part of the Maoist strategy to restrict the movement of the security forces before their offensive in the region is proposed.
Additional CRPF jawans and police personnel have been rushed to the site, while the measures taken to intensify patrolling in the area, Bhoi said.
This was the third attack by the Maoists in Malkangiri this month. A guest house of a private steel company in the neighborhood Chitrakonda was burned and a bridge over a creek was blown up in the other two occasions.
–PTI