Maoists killed at least eight anti-insurgency commandos of Chhattisgarh police by blowing up their vehicle on Monday, retaliating against a renewed offensive by the forces and serving up suspicion of “careless” violations of the standard operating
procedure.
A civilian driver too died in the 2.10pm ambush — the rebels’ biggest strike against security personnel in two years — at Kutru in Bijapur district, part of the Maoists’ regional stronghold of Bastar in southern Chhattisgarh.
The personnel from the District Reserve Guard, a specialised anti-Maoist unit under the state police, were returning from an operation during which they had killed four rebels and lost a comrade when their Scorpio SUV was targeted.
Security establishment veterans underlined the absence of clarity on whether a road-opening party accompanied or preceded the Scorpio, or why the troops were in an SUV rather than walking or riding motorcycles.
Sources said the impact of the blast tossed the Scorpio in the air. Parts of its bonnet hung from nearby trees. Visuals from the scene showed a huge crater.
“A preliminary probe suggests the insurgents used the foxhole technique — digging holes and filling them with stones, and later placing explosives in these holes when they want to set off an explosion,” a security official attached to the Union home ministry told The Telegraph.
Belongings of the eight jawans of the District Reserve Guard who were killed in the blast triggered by Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Monday. PTI
A former Intelligence Bureau director told this newspaper: “It remains unclear why the personnel were travelling in an unprotected Scorpio. A probe should be ordered to find out whether there was an advance recce by a road-opening party.”
He added: “The incident could be a result of carelessness, a lack of human intelligence and protocol lapses.”
DRG personnel usually travel on foot or on motorbikes. According to protocol, security forces in the region can travel in vehicles of four or more wheels only inside forests and never on open roads. But Monday’s ambush is said to have taken place on a road.
“During troop movement, there should be a road-opening party in an anti-landmine vehicle sanitising the route beforehand, anyway,” the former IB director said.
“So far, there’s no information whether there was any road-opening party accompanying the troops travelling in the Scorpio.”
A Chhattisgarh police officer said the personnel were returning to their camp after an anti-Maoist operation that had begun on Saturday in the Abujhmad forests. At least four suspected Maoists and a DRG jawan were killed during the operation.
Sources said the personnel killed on Monday were yet to be identified. “Additional forces have reached the area and are carrying out combing operations,” a police officer said.
Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai expressed grief over the incident and said Maoists were frustrated with the ongoing counter-offensive operation in the Bastar region and had resorted to “cowardly acts”.
Visuals from the spot showed a huge crater, more than 10ft deep, splitting the concrete road after the IED blast.
Abujhmad, a 3,900sqkm area of dense forests, is a Maoist zone in Bastar. Intelligence reports suggest the rebels are in complete control of the area, where they have several camps providing arms training to recruits.
In the absence of administration and basic infrastructure in the area, it has become a challenge for the forces to even enter the forests, booby-trapped extensively with landmines and other explosives.
Monday’s attack comes against the backdrop of the security forces launching a strong anti-Maoist offensive in various parts of Chhattisgarh.
Union home minister Amit Shah had recently warned the Maoists to surrender or face an “all out” assault, saying the government expected to crush the rebellion by March next year.
Security forces had killed at least 31 Maoists during an encounter in Chhattisgarh last October in one of the most successful operations against the rebels in recent years.
