KADAPA: Kodavatikanti Rajesh (37), a jawan from Kadapa district, was killed in an IED blast triggered by Maoists in the Abujhmad area of Chhattisgarh.
The death of Rajesh, who hailed from Papireddypalle village in Brahmamgari Matham Mandal, while serving the nation, has cast a pall of grief over his community.
His body was shifted from Bengaluru to his native village on Sunday, and his last rites will be performed on Monday.
The blast occurred near Kodliyar village in the Abujhmad area, claiming the lives of Rajesh and another jawan, Amar Panwar (36), from Satara district in Maharashtra. Both were part of the 53rd Battalion of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
The ITBP, along with BSF and DRG, was returning to Narayanpur after a joint anti-Maoist operation in Dhurped when the explosion occurred on Saturday afternoon. This IED blast follows a significant operation on October 4, where security forces killed 38 Maoists in the same area. Rajesh joined the ITBP in 2007.
He was the fourth child of his parents Jannayya and Balamma, agricultural labourers. Rajesh is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter, who reside in Papireddypalle.