A woman constable of the Chhattisgarh Police sustained serious injuries on Thursday afternoon when a powerful pressure-activated Improvised Explosive Device, planted by Naxalites, detonated in the heavily forested hills of Sukma district. The explosion took place around 1 pm as a joint team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and District Force was conducting an aggressive area domination operation from the recently established Gogunda forward operating camp under Keralapal police station limits in the insurgency-hit Bastar region.

Constable Muchaki Durga, serving with the District Force, inadvertently stepped on the concealed pressure mechanism while the team navigated a narrow jungle path surrounded by thick undergrowth. The blast instantly shattered the silence of the forest, sending shrapnel and debris in all directions and causing grievous injuries to her left foot and lower leg. Fellow jawans immediately secured the area, administered emergency first aid, and arranged for her swift evacuation from the remote location.

After receiving preliminary treatment at the nearest medical facility, Constable Durga was airlifted by an Indian Air Force or state government helicopter to Raipur for advanced surgical intervention. Senior police officials confirmed that while the injuries are serious, her condition remains stable and out of danger. The incident has reinforced the extreme risks faced by security personnel deployed in Maoist strongholds where every footstep can prove fatal.

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Naxalites continue to rely heavily on pressure IEDs and booby traps laid along mud tracks, riverbanks, and hill trails to inflict casualties on patrolling parties and deter the establishment of permanent security camps. Over the years, scores of security personnel and innocent villagers have lost their lives or limbs to such indiscriminate devices across the seven districts of Bastar division, with Sukma remaining one of the most affected areas.

This latest blast comes barely five months after Additional Superintendent of Police (Konta) Akash Rao Girepunje was killed in June 2025 when a massive IED planted at a stone quarry exploded in the same district. As the Union government’s deadline of March 2026 to completely eradicate the Naxal insurgency draws closer, security forces have significantly intensified operations, established dozens of new forward camps, and enhanced intelligence-based offensives deep inside hitherto Maoist-controlled zones.

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