Three members of the Chhattisgarh Police’s District Reserve Guards (DRG) were killed, and one was injured when an improvised explosive device (IED), planted by Maoists in the past, exploded during a demining operation in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district on Saturday (May 2, 2026), said a senior police officer.
The victim was conducting a demining operation in a forest area under the Chhotebethiya police station when the IED went off, said Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) P. Sundarraj.
“But in today’s unfortunate incident, when the Kanker District Police team was defusing the IED, it accidentally exploded, resulting in the death of three police personnel, while one police personnel was seriously injured,” said Mr. Sundarraj.
He added that Inspector Sukhram Vatti, Constable Krishna Komra, and Constable Sanjay Gadpale were seriously injured and died on the spot. One injured constable, Parmanand Komra, is being provided with necessary facilities for better treatment. They are all from the DRG, a specialised anti-insurgency unit of the Chhattisgarh Police.
Notably, after the Centre declared the State free from Maoist violence, top police officers had said that IEDs that may have been planted by the Maoists before they deserted their camps or surrendered still posed a challenge. This is the first such IED blast since March 31.
