RAIPUR, India - Four police personnel were killed in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district when an improvised explosive device detonated during a demining operation, according to local police.
The victims included an inspector from the District Reserve Guard and three other personnel. Police said one member of the team was injured, airlifted to Raipur and later died in hospital. The blast happened in a forested area of Aadnar village under the Chhotebethiya police station limits near the Narayanpur district border.
According to the report, the team had been deployed after intelligence inputs suggested that a Maoist dump contained explosives. Officers said the force had located an IED and was attempting to neutralize it when the device exploded around 11.30 a.m. A bomb disposal squad was also at the site.
This is the kind of incident that underscores how dangerous demining and counterinsurgency work remain in central India. Even when security personnel identify a device successfully, the attempt to make the area safe can itself become fatal if the charge is unstable, poorly manufactured or triggered by a tiny mistake in handling.
The senior police officer quoted in the report said the blast may have been caused by an accidental circuit connection while the device was being retrieved, though investigators were still examining the exact cause. That detail is important because it suggests the explosion may have been inadvertent rather than a direct attack on the team at the moment it happened.
The report also places the incident in the broader context of anti-Naxal operations in Bastar. Authorities said they had recovered and neutralized hundreds of IEDs in recent months based on intelligence and information from surrendered cadres. The latest blast will likely sharpen attention on the risks faced by security forces operating in terrain where Maoist-linked devices remain a persistent threat.
Chhattisgarh's deputy chief minister called the incident tragic and said the government stood with the families of the dead. Security forces launched a search operation in the area after the blast.
The deaths are likely to be felt strongly in local police ranks, where officers routinely work in difficult, heavily forested areas with limited margin for error. For the families of the dead, the event is a sudden and violent loss. For the state, it is another reminder that the conflict has not ended simply because authorities claim progress. Until the forensic examination is complete, the exact trigger may remain uncertain, but the toll is already clear.
