At least four Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed when their vehicle came under an alleged attack by Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur on Saturday, PTI reported. Two soldiers sustained injuries during the operation, reports said.

The incident took place around 4 pm near Murdanda camp of the CRPF under Awapalli police station. The troops were out for an area domination exercise in a bullet proof vehicle, The Hindu reported. The deceased included an assistant sub-inspector, one head constable and two constables of 168 battalion, said Deputy Inspector General of Police (anti-naxal operations) P Sundar Raj.

A powerful land min blast triggered when the vehicle was around one km away from the camp, Bijapur Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg told PTI.

The state is scheduled to go to polls in November. The first phase of Assembly elections will be held in Bijapur and other Maoist-affected areas in Chhattisgarh on November 12.

In August, the Centre withdrew more than 7,000 CRPF personnel who were deployed to conduct anti-Maoist operations from West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand to redeploy to Maoist-hit regions of South Bastar in Chhattisgarh.

At least 15 suspected Maoists were killed during an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma in August.