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Five Central Reserve Police Force personnel, including a deputy commandant, were killed in a blast triggered by Naxals at Lalgarh in West Bengal on Wednesday, the second day of a bandh called by the Left-wing extremists in five states.
Deputy Commandant Vijay Pal Singh, hailing from Churu district of Rajasthan, was among the CRPF personnel who lost their lives in the explosion at Kadasole near Ramgarh in Lalgarh police station area of West Midnapore district.
The incident comes a day after Union Home Minister P Chidambaram asked the Naxals to abjure violence and come forward for talks. Official sources said the CRPF men had set out from their camp at Goaltore market to patrol nearby villages and to visit another camp when the blast took place at 11.30 am.
"Five CRPF personnel, including the deputy commandant, were killed while another CRPF trooper was injured in the improvised explosive device blast set off by Naxals," a senior CRPF officer said.
The other deceased have been identified as head constable B L Santara, constables D K Samanta, D Ramesh and Rakesh Kumar while another constable N K Ghosh was injured.
Sources said the personnel were traveling in two vehicles through the state highway. "As soon as they crossed a small bridge, the vehicle in front was blown up," they said. The blast left a five-feet deep crater on the road.
Deputy Commandant Singh, who was initially admitted to the Midnapore Hospital, succumbed to his injuries while being evacuated by a helicopter to Kolkata, the sources said. Lalgarh has been a hot-bed of Naxal activities since the last couple of years and a joint CRPF-state police operation was launched in June last year to re-capture the areas controlled by Maoists there.
The latest attack by Maoists came just two days after they blew up a civilian bus in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, killing at least 35 people. After that incident, Chidambaram had made a fresh offer to hold talks if the Maoists 'suspend' violence, even for just 72 hours, but the Left-wing extremists rejected it.