Sagar, Dec 10 : At least four Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) of Madhya Pradesh Police died in a road accident in Sagar district in the wee hours on Wednesday.

The tragic accident occurred on the National Highway (NH-44) in the Bandari Malthon area when police personnel were returning from Balaghat to Morena.

The vehicle of the jawans collided with a loaded truck, resulting in the on-the-spot death of four jawans.

According to police, the deceased have been identified as Praduman Dikshit, Aman Kaurav, Parmal Tomar and Vinod Sharma.

The deceased included both team members of the dog and bomb squads of the state police.

SI Rajeev Chauhan was severely injured and admitted to Bansal Hospital in Bhopal, according to preliminary information shared by police.

Three of them were residents of Morena, while one hailed from the adjoining Bhind district. One sniffer dog was also injured in the incident.

While police jawans were heading towards Morena via Sagar on NH-44, their vehicle collided with a truck-container.

However, the cause of the accident was yet to be ascertained.

The police vehicle was completely crushed in the accident, and the bodies were stuck in it.

The police team had to use a JCB machine to cut the vehicle's door and pull out the bodies from the mangled vehicle.

The police have detained the truck-container driver and are interrogating him at a police station. Later, senior police and district administration also reached the spot and began an investigation.

The police said the bodies of the deceased were removed from the vehicle and have been sent for post-mortem examination, and further investigation was underway.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav expressed grief over the incident and extended condolences to the bereaved family.

In a post on the social media platform X, Dr Yadav said, "Four policemen returning from an anti-Naxal operation were killed in a horrific road accident in Sagar district."

He paid tributes to the deceased and wished a speedy recovery for the injured.

/IANS