Raipur: "My heartfelt condolences to the families of those personnel who lost their lives in Sukma blast. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured jawans. I spoke to DG CRPF regarding the Sukma incident and asked him to leave for Chhattisgarh," tweeted HM Rajnath Singh after eight personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed when suspected Maoists blew up their mine-protected vehicle (MPV) in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district today.



Some jawans were also reported to be injured in the explosion, but there was no official confirmation yet, an official said, reported PTI.

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The blast occurred when a team of CRPF's 212th battalion was patrolling in a forest in Kistaram area of Sukma, located around 500 kms from here, a paramilitary official told PTI.




"Eight paramilitary personnel, belonging to the 212th battalion, were killed in the blast," he said.




The security men were conducting an area-domination operation in the forest of Kistaram when the Maoists blew up the CRPF's mine-protected vehicle, he said.

The rebels used a lot of explosives to blow up the vehicle, the official said.