The incident occurred at 4 pm near Murdana camp of the CRPF under Awapalli police station limits in Bijapur district of the poll-bound state, after Naxals blew up a bullet-proof bunker (BPB) vehicle.
The blast took place when 168th battalion was out on “area domination”, Bijapur Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg told news agency PTI. When the BPB vehicle carrying six security personnel was around one km away from the camp, ultras triggered a powerful land mine blast, he said.
The explosion was followed by exchange of fire between Naxals and the security personnel who were following the BPB vehicle
Those deceased include Assistant Sub-Inspector Mir Maitur Rehman (50), Head Constable and driver B M Behra (43) and Constables C H Praveen (21) and Shreenu Kumar (26), who died on the spot.
Those injured include Head Constable Baburao Siddheshwar and Constable Parmar Hardik.
Reinforcement was rushed to the spot and the injured were shifted to a local hospital, the official said, adding that the bodies of the slain were retrieved from the site of explosion. Later, the injured were airlifted to Raipur, the agency reported.
The attack comes just a day after Chief Minister Raman Singh launched BJP’s campaign for the first phase of polls on November 12 in neighbouring Sukma district.
Naxals had recently put up posters in parts of Bastar calling for boycott of the polls.
The first phase of election will cover 18 constituencies in eight Naxal-affected districts - Bastar, Kanker, Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Rajnandgaon, which will be held on November 12. Polls in the remaining 72 constituencies will be conducted on November 20.