PATNA: A CRPF sub-inspector was killed in a landmine blast triggered by the Maoists during a combing operation in Bihar’s Gaya district and two hardcore Maoists making plans for disruptive acts during the Lok Sabha polls were arrested in Bhojpur district, police said on Thursday.

Raushan Kumar, a sub-inspector of CRPF’s 205 CoBRA battalion was badly injured when a landmine laid by the Maoists in the Langurahi jungles in Gaya district went off. He was flown by a chopper to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), where he succumbed to his injuries.

One of Kumar’s legs was torn apart in the blast. The young sub-inspector, who had joined CRPF in 2016, hailed from Lakhiserai district in Bihar. DK Bora, a CRPF constable hailing from Assam, was injured in the blast. He is under treatment and his condition is stable, said officials.

The landmine blast occurred when a team of about 200 men in uniform from the 205 CoBRA battalion, the 159 and 153 battalions of CRPF and the district police was carrying out a combing operation on Wednesday evening. They were trying to arrest wanted Maoist leader Sandeep alias Vijay Yadav, who carries a cash reward of Rs 25 on his head and has been on the most-wanted list of police for 15 years, said police sources.

Sandeep and about 30 armed Maoists had been camping in the jungles between Dumaria in Gaya district and Pachrukhia in Aurangabad district for the past three days, they added.

“The blast was followed by several rounds of firing from the Maoists, and it was retaliated by the police team. Several IEDs were recovered from the area. The combing operation is still on,” said Aurangabad SP Satyaprakash, who has been monitoring the operations from Madanpur police station.