Telangana: 3 Greyhound commandos killed, 3 injured in IED blast in Mulugu dist

Hyderabad: Three Greyhound commandos, part of Telangana police’s anti-Maoist unit, were killed and three others injured after an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in Venkatapuram village in Mulugu district, close to the Chhattisgarh border, on Thursday morning, police said.

The police suspect that the IED was planted by Maoists because they had allegedly left messages on pamphlets in Venkatapuram and neighbouring villages that landmines had been planted in the area to prevent security forces from carrying out combing operations.

“As Greyhound forces were checking for landmines in the forests and working to neutralise the explosives, the Maoists blew up one of the IEDs planted there, resulting in the killing of there personnel and injuries to three others. Simultaneously, an exchange of fire broke out between the Maoists and the Greyhounds personnel for some time, before the Maoists retreated into the forests,” a police officer said.

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The deceased have been identified as reserve sub-inspector (RSI) Ranadheer and constables Sandeep and Pawan Kalyan. “Their bodies have been shifted to MGM Hospital mortuary in Warangal for postmortem,” a police officer from Mulugu district said.

Senior police officers, including Telangana director general of police (DGP) Anjani Kumar and Greyhounds DG Stephen Raveendra, visited the hospital to pay their respects to the deceased.

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According to preliminary reports, Greyhounds teams were engaged in a combing operation in the forests of Venkatapuram, following intelligence that Maoist cadres were regrouping in the area.

This came after an encounter in the Karreguttalu forests of bordering Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, which resulted in the death of 22 Maoists.