CRPF warns of dummy IEDs to mislead forces

Senior officials said they had already recovered and destroyed 200 kg explosives during various search operations.

After receiving credible intelligence inputs,the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF),the nodal force for the Chhattisgarh elections,has asked forces to be aware of dummy IEDs that could have been planted just to trap them.

Senior officials said that in the run-up to the first phase of the elections,which will cover the six districts worst affected by Left-wing extremism (LWE),they had already recovered and destroyed 200 kg explosives during various search operations,with around 100 kgs being uncovered in the first week of November.

In the absence of any communication network in these areas,the CRPF had sourced additional 80 satellite phones from reserve and given it to the state police who have also been put on election duties.

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There are strict instructions to forces not to use any kind of vehicles during patrolling. It has to be foot patrolling. We do not know yet how these roads could be rigged with IEDs though we are carrying out combing operations every day. The aerial route is only for the election officials, CRPF DG Dilip Trivedi said.

A senior officer said that besides taking care of their own logistics,they were also arranging ammunition,weapons and communication equipment for police forces who had come from other states. In all,56,000 policemen sent from other states apart from the one-lakh odd from the Chhattisgarh police have been deployed.

Speaking about the logistics,a senior official said,A state sent its police force with only 25 rounds of ammunition. They very well knew the kind of threat the security forces face in this part of the country but since their state had not witnessed any such violence they could not assess the situation appropriately. So in such cases also we are arranging the necessary ammunitions and weapons among other things.

It is strange since these explosives,which we have exploded in the past one month or so,were not attached with any kind of fuse that would help it to set-off. We fear the Maoists are trying some new method where the pressure mechanism is somewhere else,say 60-70 metres. So if you fiddle with any explosive here,the pressure mechanism would work at some distance and it could be possible that another IED will explode there. However,these are all assumptions and we cannot say anything in a concrete manner now, an official said.