Journalist Killed In IED Blast Triggered By Maoists In Odisha’s Kalahandi

Bhawanipatna: Journalist Rohit Biswal was killed in an IED explosion triggered by Maoists near Karlarkhunta Bridge in Odisha’s Kalahandi district on Saturday.

A native of Mohangiri village, he was a correspondent of a vernacular daily, Dharitri,  and had reportedly gone to the spot to take visuals of the Maoist posters put up near the bridge in Madanpur Rampur block, urging the local people to boycott the panchayat poll.

The landmines suddenly exploded while he was covering the report, killing him on the spot.

The site of the explosion has been cordoned off by security forces and a bomb disposal team, which is sanitised the area.

Confirming the incident, Kalahandi SP Dr Vivek M said that IEDs were placed targeting the police. “Whenever such posters come up, there is a possibility that IEDs have been planted targeting the police. But that does not happen every time. Our team was alerted but before we reached the spot, the unfortunate incident happened. We can recover the body from the spot only after ascertaining that there are no more IEDs,” he told The Indian Express.

Meanwhile, a joint team of CRPF and police have begun a probe, sources said.