Maoist blast rate turns 8, cop in critical

Vijayawada February 03: The Odisha Police on Thursday began to probe into the landmine blast in Koraput district, in which at least eight policemen and five others were injured.The probe would cover the suspected involvement of Maoists and whether or not the police personnel followed the standard operation procedures (SOPs) while moving out.Fifteen personnel, all of them drivers, were proceeding in a minivan from Koraput for training to Angul district police training college when the blast occurred between 5 pm and 5.30 pm at Mungurubhumi area, 3 km away from the AP border in Vizianagaram district. Seven bodies were recovered on Wednesday, with the deceased identified as havaldar major Somnath, Ganesh Prasad Saha, Arun Kumar Nayak, Pradeep Kumar Rout, Hare Krishna Prusti, Sanjay Kumar Dash and Suvarna Kumar Raj.Special Secretary to Home department Lalit Das said Inspector General (Operations) R.P. Koche and Intelligence Director Sunil Roy were probing the incident and have visited the spot.By yesterday Eight police personnel were killed and five injured in the landmine blast in Sunki Ghat of Koraput district while 13 policemen were traveling in a police vehicle.Five of the injured were admitted to a hospital in Vizag. Among them, Lipu Kumar Nath s condition is said to be critical with injuries on the chest and spine. The remaining four -Pradeep Kumar Mallik, Radhasyam Das, Swetha Kumar Das and Pramod Biswal -are undergoing treatment for multiple fractures and injuries.And by today death raises to 8 and other cops are in the critical stage. The Odisha police have ordered a probe to be conducted by operations IG RP Koche and intelligence director Sunil Roy . The two met the injured and their relatives in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.The investigation team will probe whether the department had followed the standard operation procedure while transporting the personnel, sources said.