A week before Union Home Secretary GK Pillai's visit to Orissa, Maoists on Friday set off a landmine in Malkangiri district that blew up a CRPF vehicle killing three CRPF personnel and injuring seven.

Orissa Inspector General of Police(Operations) Sanjib Marik said the vehicle was ripped apart under the impact of the blast, instantly killing three personnel which included a deputy commandant of CRPF. The blast occurred just 8 km away from Kalimela police station on the Kalimela-Malkangiri road at 8.10 am.

About 50-60 jawans travelling in a convoy of five vehicles were on their way to Koraput with clothing, wooden cots and boxes when the blast took place. Officials in CRPF's control room in Bhubaneswar said the injured jawans were being shifted to a hospital in Vishakhapatnam.