An officer of the Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) jungle warfare unit, CoBRA, was killed and seven commandos were wounded as Maoists carried out an IED explosion in Chattisgarh’s Sukma district, PTI reported quoting a police official on Sunday. 

The official said that the blast took place in a forest near the Aravraj Metta hills at around 8:30 pm on Saturday and the injured personnel were evacuated by helicopter around midnight.

No exchange of fire took place at the spot, which falls under the Chintagufa police station limits and is over 450 km from the state capital Raipur, the official said.

They confirmed that Assistant Commandant Nitin Bhalerao succumbed to the injuries he sustained in the blast, while the nine others, including the second-in-command officer, are currently receiving treatment at a local hospital. 

The deceased belonged to the 206th battalion of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) and was a resident of Maharashtra’s Nashik district.

The officials said that the CoBRA team were conducting a special operation in the area along with local police when the blast took place.