In a major attack, Maoists triggered a powerful IED blast on Wednesday in restive Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh which ripped through a mini-truck carrying CRPF troopers. All the seven men inside the vehicle were killed, a top police official said.
“It was a massive blast which tossed the vehicle several feet up in the air and then it landed on the ground in four pieces. The blast created a giant crater on a busy newly-repaired road at Malewara on Dantewada-Sukma road which is about 400 km south of State capital Raipur,’’ DM Awasthi, Director-General of Police (Naxal Operation), told reporters.
The dead CRPF personnel belonged to the 230th battalion. Police officials who reached the spot after 45-50 minutes, said that the martyred men were unarmed and were in civil uniform as they were returning from leave, to join an anti-Naxal operation.
Tribals who first got access to the blast site and tipped off police about the incident, stated that the bodies of the CRPF men were torn to bits and body parts were found strewn several metres away from the attack site.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh strongly condemned the incident and termed it “a clear sign of frustration among Naxals who are feeling the heat of increased police presence in their strongholds”. He said, “I salute the supreme sacrifice of the seven CRPF men and the attack has strengthened my resolve to weed out Naxalism from the State.”
Initial probe indicates that up to five-nine Maoists executed the blast for which over 40 kg explosives could have been used to target a mini-truck. Dozens of heavily armed paramilitary troopers have launched operation to apprehend the insurgents who are reportedly slipped into the nearby jungle.