A veteran bomb disposal instructor at Chhattisgarh Government’s 'Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare College' (CTJWC) in insurgency-infested Kanker district of Bastar was killed on Wednesday when a grenade exploded near him while he was conducting a training session here.
This is the first time a Counter Insurgency Bomb Disposal Instructor has lost his life during a training session in Chhattisgarh.
Notably, Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare College (CTJW) imparts combat training to enable trainees perform effectively in most difficult of Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism environment across the country.
Director CTJWC, Brigadier BK Ponwar informed The Pioneer when contacted on telephone from Kanker that Platoon Commander Narendra Singh was conducting a training session and had hurled a hand grenade which was supposed to explode in four seconds.
“After throwing the grenade, the Instructor and trainees ducked down behind a hide. However, the grenade did not go off and Narendra Singh, being an expert raised his head above the hide to look at the grenade and just then it exploded”, he said.
A splinter from the grenade pierced through the eyes of the Platoon Commander and got struck in his brain which turned out to be fatal, he added.
Narendra Singh was immediately rushed to district hospital where doctors after examination pronounced him dead.
According to the Brigadier, such kind of incidents are very rare and happen one in 10,000.
“The Platoon Commander was an expert and had defused over 212 IEDs during the past 10 years which on an average makes up around 1800 kgs of explosives. The Instructor had substantially contributed towards bringing down the IED blasts in Naxal infested regions of Chhattisgarh. The brave soldier had equipped around 31,000 jawans who were trained at CTJWC with the skill to defuse IEDs,” Brigadier Ponwar added.
Narendra Singh was a Indian Army’s Non-commissioned Officer hailing from Nagaur district of Rajasthan according to Kanker Superintendent of Police Jitendra Singh Meena.
Notably, the Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare College has unique facilities of special firing ranges, rock climbing, rappelling, 14 reflex shooting, and slithering, Unarmed Combat areas, Natural Obstacle Course, Endurance track, hills, rivers, thick jungles and remotely populated villages in Bastar.
The trainees at the school are addressed as ‘Commandos’ and are put through a rigorous Combat schedule to develop in them high qualities of leadership, devotion to duty, alertness, physical and mental robustness to make them capable in carrying out sustained Offensive Counter Insurgency, Counter Terrorism operations in Jungle and Urban terrain anywhere.