Five including CISF personnel killed in Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada

"At least five persons, including a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel and four civilians, have been killed and two CISF jawans are seriously injured as Maoists triggered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast on a bus near Bacheli in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh on Thursday afternoon," Chhattisgarh State Intelligence Branch (SIB)'s SP, D Ravishankar, told IBNS.

"Four civilians killed in the attack included the bus's driver, conductor/helper and a cleaner," he said.

The attack occurred just a day ahead of election campaigns in Bastar region by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and opposition Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

"The martyred and injured CISF personnel have been deployed to provide security during the forthcoming assembly election in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Dantewada. They were out for some admin work and were returning base when the attack was carried out," Dantewada SP, Abhishek Pallava, told IBNS.

"The injured CISF jawans are undergoing treatment in a local hospital."

This is the second Maoist ambush in the region in ten days. A Doordarshan cameraperson, covering elections, and two policemen were killed in a strike in Dantewada on Oct 30.

The Maoist rebels are active in the region for decades along with vast swathes of central and eastern India as they vowed to overthrow  the Indian state by violence.

Chhattisgarh is one of the worst hit states by Maoist violence with the occasional ambushes in the region each time killing security personnel and civilians in scores.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)