NEW DELHI, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- A paramilitary trooper belonging to Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was wounded Friday after a blast went off in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, police said.
The blast took place in Tarrem village in Basaguda area of Bijapur district, about 450 km south of Raipur, the capital city of Chhattisgarh.
"Today in the morning, a CRPF man was wounded when a bomb exploded here," a police official posted in Bijapur said. "The CRPF man was part of a patrolling party that was out on an area domination operation."
According to police, the wounded paramilitary trooper was immediately removed to a hospital in Raipur.
Police officials blame Naxals for planting the bomb.
"We are trying to ascertain whether this was an improvised explosive device (IED) blast or some other bomb," the police official said.
Currently, Naxals are active in more than a third of India's 600-odd districts across central and eastern India.
Indian former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh once termed the Naxalite movement as India's "greatest internal security challenge".
New Delhi has deployed several companies of its paramilitary forces to take on Naxals in their strongholds.
