Naxals kill minister’s guard in Chhattisgarh

A personal security officer deployed to guard state Public Health Engineering Minister Kedar Kashyap in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district was killed by Maoists late on Saturday evening.

A personal security officer deployed to guard state Public Health Engineering Minister Kedar Kashyap in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district was killed by Maoists late on Saturday evening.

At least three Maoists, believed to be in school uniforms, fired at constable Khubchand Sahu at a weekly market in Mardapal village, 260 km from here, a police official said.

Sahu succumbed to bullet injuries on way to the hospital. A woman standing near Sahu also received bullet injuries and was admitted to a hospital in the district headquarters at Jagdalpur. The accused escaped with the constable’s AK-47 rifle, official sources added.

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After the incident, security personnel were rushed to the spot to conduct search and cordon off the area. The miscreants had, however, fled the scene. No arrests have been made so far.

Police said Sahu was one of the guards deployed to provide security to Kashyap who was in Mardapal on Saturday to inaugurate a government hospital. The minister was inside a guesthouse when the attack occurred.