Maoists dug tunnel to plant IED below road, says Bastar I-G, vows to end LWE activities

Inspector General of Police, Bastar range, Sundarraj P said: “Prima facie it seems the IED was kept after making a tunnel and it could not be detected during the demining. The forensic report will clear further details.”

On the next line of action, Sundarraj said: “We have been on the offensive and it has shown positive results. This has been a setback, but we will be more offensive to end Maoist activities.”

A source in the police, who visited the site, said: “We suspect the IED may have been planted in the last 24 hours, as nothing was found in the demining exercise conducted 48 hours before the incident. But only forensic analysis will clear it. The pucca road (concrete or bitumen) was made in 2014 or 2015. During rain, the road shoulder had washed away and a four-foot hole was created. The Maoists used this hole to create a tunnel and planted the command IED from beneath.

“Even before this incident, IEDs have been placed under pucca roads. We have removed mines from the stretch in the past as well.”

Asked if there were lapses in operating protocol, Sundarraj said: “We have reached very far in our operations. After connecting Aranpur (in Dantewada) to Jagargunda (in Sukma), we had connected Jagargunda to Basaguda (in Bijapur) by setting up police camps. These areas were earlier known as Maoist strongholds; now we have gone further inside these areas. In the area where the incident took place, we were carrying out continuous operations and brought their activities under control.”

“We will find out where we fell short and where Maoists got an opportunity,” he added.