Boudh: At least two jawans of the Special Operations Group (SOG) were critically injured when a landmine planted by Maoists exploded during a combing operation inside a forest in Odisha’s Boudh district on Thursday.
The injured jawans were airlifted to the state capital and admitted to the AIIMS-Bhubaneswar for treatment. Both are now undergoing treatment in the casualty of the hospital, AIIMS sources said.
The injured SOG jawans were identified as Utkal Patel (33) and R S Nayak (31).
As per preliminary information, the incident took place when personnel of the elite SOG were conducting a search operation in Nalikumpha forest of Boudh district in the morning.
A landmine, suspected to have been planted by Maoists, exploded when the jawans were proceeding in the area.
Around 30 jawans were combing the area on a tip-off that movements of Maoist cadres were noticed in the area.
The injured jawans were initially admitted to Kantamal Community Health Centre (CHC) and later shifted to Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital in Balangir as their condition deteriorated. Both were then airlifted to Bhubaneswar and admitted to AIIMS for treatment.