Two police commandos injured in blast targeting polling party

Two police commandos were injured in a blast triggered by Naxals, while escorting a polling party in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district Thursday.

The blast was the second in the day and third since Wednesday, police said.

The injured commandos were from Maharashtra police's C-60 force, an official said. The blast was triggered using an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), police said.

The blast took place near Hetri village in Etapalli tehsil when the polling party was returning to the district headquarters after the voting was over, said a police official.

As the team reached Parsalgondi area, the IED was triggered and two C-60 commandos were seriously injured, he said.

They were taken to a hospital in Nagpur.

Earlier in the morning, Naxals triggered an IED blast near a polling booth in Waghezari area, 150 metres from a polling booth, in the district.

Nobody was injured in that blast.

On Wednesday, Naxals denoted an IED at Gatta Jambia village in Etapalli tehsil when a polling party was heading for a polling station. A CRPF jawan was injured.

Gadchiroli was among the seven seats in Maharashtra where polling took place Thursday.