A Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, who was injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Kanker's Koyalibeda area of Chhattisgarh this morning, succumbed to injuries.
Sub-Inspector (SI) Mahender Singh had sustained splinter and bullet injuries on his neck. A native of Dumariya village of Bharatpur district in Rajasthan, Singh belonged to 35th Batallion of the BSF.
The exchange of fire took place at a forest in Bedre area when a team of the Special Task Force (STF) was out on an anti-Naxal operation, a senior police official told PTI.
As per the ground report, a body of a Naxal clad in 'uniform' and a rifle were recovered from the spot, located around 450 km from here, he said.
A set of six IEDs were planted in a series and were set off in one go between village Gome and Gattakal in Koyalibeda.
Security has been heightened in seven districts of Bastar division and Rajnandgaon district which go to polls in the first phase on Monday.
Around one lakh security personnel have been deployed to ensure smooth conduct of elections.
Naxalites have asked voters to boycott the polls.
The 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly will go to polls in two phases -- on November 12 and 20 -- and the results will be announced on December 11.
The first phase of polls will cover 18 constituencies of eight Naxal-affected districts that include Bastar, Kanker, Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Rajnandgaon.
Earlier, two policemen and a cameraperson of Doordarshan were killed and two others were injured in a Maoist attack in poll-bound Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
