IED blast in Chhattisgarh shows Maoists can still cause damage

At least eight police personnel have lost their lives in an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) blast carried out by Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district. According to preliminary reports, Maoists targeted a vehicle carrying soldiers of the police’s District Reserve Guard (DRG), a special force formed to carry out anti-Maoist operations in the state. The blast took place at approximately 14.15 hours near Ambeli village, under Kutru police station. The party was returning after an operation, according to a senior police officer.

In the last few months, operations against Maoists have intensified, leading to some big kills. In a big operation carried out in December last year, the police killed eight Maoist guerrillas, including a senior leader, Karthik Dada, who was a member of the Odisha State Committee of the CPI (Maoist). On January 4, four Maoists and a DRG constable died during an encounter in Abujhmad area, once an inaccessible area where many Maoist leaders used to take shelter, and which has seen intensified operations in the last few months.

In the past few years, even in their strongholds in central and eastern India, the Maoists have become considerably weak. The infighting has also resulted in the surrender of many Maoist commanders. Also, in several places, including in Bastar, Adivasis have turned against them in several pockets. Reasons abound. One, the security forces have entered several areas where earlier they had no presence. Two, due to some development work undertaken in these parts, many hitherto inaccessible areas are no longer so. In the cut-off area in Odisha’s Malkangiri district, for example, the building of a bridge over the Gurupriya river has resulted in over 150 ‘Maoist’ village strongholds becoming connected with district headquarters. In Bihar and Jharkhand, many of them have turned into petty criminals and vice-versa.

But, as the latest attack shows, the Maoists still have the power to cause damage. In the coming days, the operations against them are only going to intensify.

BijapurChhattisgarhDistrict Reserve GuardIED blastNaxalviolenceWeb Exclusive