Maoists blow up key bridge in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR - Maoists blew up Sunday a bridge on a national highway connecting Chhattisgarh to Andhra Pradesh in the state’s worst insurgency-hit Dantewada district, police said.

The rebels blew up the bridge on national highway 221 by using an improvised explosive device (IED). The road is key link between Dantewada district and Andhra Pradesh’s Khammam district, officials here at police headquarters told IANS.

Home Minister Nankiram Kanwar, who was scheduled to visit Dantewada Sunday, called off his trip after police officials advised him not to travel by road due to security reasons. He was expected to visit Chintalnar area, over 500 km from Raipur, where Maoists had massacred 76 security men April 6.