Four BSF officials were killed and two others injured on Friday in a landmine blast suspected to have been triggered by Maoists in Malkangiri district, the stronghold of the red brigade in Odisha. The police said the officials were returning to their base after a meeting.
BSF director
general UK Bansal rushed to the spot, which is next to the Balimela reservoir, where the Naxal ambush in which 38 Greyhound commandos of the Andhra Pradesh police were killed in June 2008 took place.
Odisha inspector general of police YB Khurania said the rebels triggered the blast near Balimela, about 600 km southwest of Bhubaneswar, at about 1 pm, using an improvised explosive devise.
The victims have been identified as JR Khaswan, Rajesh Sharan, Ashok Yadav and Jitendra Sahu. The injured were Bishnu Panigrahi and SK Kundu. (With inputs from PTI)