Raipur: Three people were killed when Naxals blew up an oil tanker with an improvised explosive device (IED) in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district according to police officials Tuesday.
The incident took place around 10.00 am between Kosronda and Tumapal villages when the diesel-laden tanker was engaged in rail track laying work in Rowghat area, IGP (Bastar range) Vivekanand Sinha told this agency.
The tanker had left from Tumapal camp of the Sashtra Seema Bal (SSB), to provide fuel to the construction vehicles engaged in Dallirajhra-Rowghat railway project work.
When it reached near Patkalbeda village, located around 200 km from here, Maoists denoted a powerful IED and blew up the vehicle, killing its three occupants on the spot, another police official said.
The deceased were identified as drivers Rakesh Kodopi (24), native of neighbouring Kondagaon district, and Duneshwar Singh (24) (from Madhya Pradesh), and helper Ajay Kumar Salaam (23) (hailing from Rowghat in Kanker), the official stated.
The tanker belonged to a private firm – KR Infrastructure Construction Company – which is engaged in the rail track laying work, said the official.
On getting information about the incident, Kanker SP KL Dhruv along with other security personnel rushed to the spot. Besides, teams of the SSB from Tumapal and Kosronda camps also launched search operations in the area to trace the culprits.
Maoists have been opposing the project since its inception and executed several attacks in the past, fearing that construction of the rail route will speed up development works in Bastar, thereby uprooting them from the region, said another police officer.
Construction is currently underway for the 235-km-long Dallirajhra-Rowghat-Jagdalpur broad-gauge railway project which would facilitate transportation of iron-ore extracted from the area, considered to be under the influence of Naxalites in the north Bastar region. Besides, it will facilitate eacy travel for the residents of the srea.
Work on the first phase of 95-km-long track from Dallirajhara to Rowghat is progressing rapidly. The operation of passenger trains on this route has been started upto Kevti village, which is around 42 km away from Dallirajhra station.
Agencies