At least 10 personnel of the District Reserve Guards (DRG) and their civilian driver were killed when Maoists detonated a powerful IED on a kuchha road and fired on the wounded jawans near Aranpur in Dantewada district of
Bastar, about 400km south of Raipur, on Wednesday.
Around 200 jawans were returning in a convoy when the blast was triggered around 1.30pm. Police believe 50kg of explosives was used.
The IED was so powerful that it blasted a crater 12 feet deep and around 25 feet across, spanning the entire width of the village road. The vehicle was blown to smithereens and some of the rifles were bent out of shape by the shockwave.
This is the biggest Maoist attack in Bastar since the April 3, 2021, ambush in Bijapur where 22 jawans were killed and 30 injured. It comes in election year, and soon after the central and state governments said that Maoist activities are on the wane.
The DRG personnel were on a search operation when Maoists detonated the IED, Dantewada SP Siddharth Tiwari told . Bastar range IG P Sundarraj said that the DRG team set off from their headquarters in Dantewada after police received information about the presence of Maoists from the Darbha division in Puru Hidma region.
On Wednesday morning, a gunfight broke out between DRG and Maoists in Nahadi village, around 7km from Aranpur, which led to the arrest of two cadres, police said. “After the operation, the jawans were returning to Dantewada when Maoists targeted their vehicle on the Aranpur-Sameli route,” said IG Sundarraj.
The jawans were travelling in a convoy of MUVs, spaced 150 metres apart, when one of the vehicles was blown up near Sameli village, around 20km from the morning’s encounter site and 45km from Dantewada.
PM Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, Governor Biswabhushan Harichandan and CM Bhupesh Baghel expressed their condolences. Shah spoke with Baghel and assured all possible help to the state. The DRG – whose ranks are filled with tribals, including surrendered Maoists-is often in the crosshairs as it spearheads anti- insurgency operations and takes the fight into Maoist strongholds.
Aranpur, 70km from Dantewada, sits in a hotbed of Maoist insurgency, ringed by places like Minpa, Kirandul, Gangaloor, Bade Bacheli and Palnar, the sites of much bloodshed.
Area was sanitised before DRG men set out; IED was planted later.
The latest strike happened soon after the central and state governments said Maoist activities are waning in Chhattisgarh, where assembly elections are due later this year. The DRG-whose ranks are filled with indigenous tribal people, including surrendered Maoists-is often in the crosshairs of insurgents as the force spearheads anti- insurgency operations and takes the fight into Maoist strongholds.
Those killed were identified as head constables Joga Sodhi, Munnaram Kadti, Santosh Tamo, constables Dulgo Mandavi, Lakhmu Markam, Joga Kawasi and Hariram Mandavai, and ‘gopaniya sainiks’ (undercover operatives) Raju Ram Kartam, Jairam Podiyam and Jagdish Kawasi. The driver, Dhaniram Yadav, was a civilian and the vehicle was privately owned.
Most of those killed were natives of Dantewada. Officers didn’t rule out the possibility of surrendered Maoists being among the victims. The mortal remains and weapons were still being collected when this report was filed.
PM Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, governor Biswabhushan Harichandan and CM Bhupesh Baghel expressed their condolences. “Strongly condemn the attack on the Chhattisgarh police in Dantewada. I pay my tributes to the brave personnel we lost in the attack. Their sacrifice will always be remembered. My condolences to the bereaved families,” PM Modi tweeted.
Shah expressed his anguish over the “cowardly” attack. He spoke with Baghel and assured all possible help to the stat government. Sources said CRPF is assisting the state police and forensic experts, including specialists from NSG and NI will travel to the site of the bombing.
Bastar range IGP P Sundarraj said the DRG team set off from their headquarters in Dantewada town after police received information about the presence of Maoists from the Darbha division in Puru Hidma region.
Aranpur, around 70km from Dantewada, is known as a hotbed of Maoist insurgency, ringed by places like Minpa, Kirandul, Gangaloor, Bade Bacheli and Palnar, the sites of much bloodshed.
200 DRG men went out on a mission on night of April 25
About 200 DRG men went out on a mission on the night on April 25. On Wednesday morning, a gunfight broke out between them and Maoists in Nahadi village, around 7km from Aranpur, which led to the arrest of two cadres, police said.
“After the operation, the jawans were returning to
Dantewada when Maoists targeted their vehicle on the Aranpur-Sameli route,” said Sundarraj. Sameli village is around 20km from the morning’s encounter site and 45km from Dantewada.
Maoists fired at the troops after the explosion, triggering a brief gunfight, police sources said. DRG men from other vehicles raced to the crater amid the gunfire to rescue their comrades, but there weren’t any survivors.
Reinforcements arrived quickly and a massive search operation was launched to track down the Maoists, Police found a long wire that was used to set off the IED.
Source: TOI News
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