Inspector General of Bastar Range of Chhattisgarh Police Sundarraj P said that the Maoists blew up the police vehicle using an improvised explosive device (IED) on the Kutru-Bedre road.
The security personnel travelling in the vehicle were returning after completing an anti-Naxal operation in the Abujhmad area which began on Friday. An encounter broke out in Abujhmad on Saturday in which five Naxals were killed but a District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawan also lost his life.
The security personnel killed in the Bijapur attack on Monday were identified as DRG Head Constable Budhram Korsa and Constables Duma Markam, Pandru Ram Poyam and Baman Sodi as well as Constables Somdu Vetti, Sudarshan Vetti, Subarnath Yadav and Harish Koram of the Bastar Fighters. The driver was identified as Tuleshwar Rana. DIG and Bastar Fighters are security forces of Chhattisgarh, which are mainly focused on combating left wing extremism and are created with the people recruited from remote local villages.
Kutru is near Abujhmad which has a very extensive area. It is said to be the last refuge for the top Maoist leaders of India.
Officials said that the security personnel were travelling in 12 vehicles on Kutru- Bedre road near Ambeli village on Monday afternoon at around 2.15 pm when the Maoists detonated an IED, badly damaging one of the vehicles. This vehicle was actually a rented private SUV. The impact of the explosion was so devastating that parts of the vehicle were found scattered a few hundred meters away from the blast site. The blast also caused a crater 25-30 feet wide and 10 feet deep.
Police said that the Maoists were hiding in the forest and were monitoring the movement of vehicles and when this vehicle was passing over it, they detonated the IED.
Deputy Inspector General of Police Kamlochan Kashyap said, “We suspect that 60-70 kg of explosives were used. Forensic experts will be able to tell more about this. The wire used to explode looks old and there was green grass on the surface above the wire, which indicates that it was a very old IED. The road is made of concrete and bitumen.”
DIG Kashyap admitted that “there was some mistake somewhere” due to which the vehicle carrying security personnel came under attack. He said, “We will analyse it.”
A senior officer said that the incident happened despite the deployment of a road opening party (ROP). In ROP, security personnel scan the sides of the roads in the forest to ensure that no Naxalites are hiding before sending a vehicle on that road.
In April 2023, 10 DRG jawans were killed while returning from an operation in Aranpur, Dantewada. One of the lessons learnt after that attack was that security personnel should avoid travelling in big vehicles and use motorcycles to avoid a large number of casualties.
