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Chhattisgarh: 4 Naxal IEDs with tree-top antenna, petrol bombs found

A senior police official said that a battery-antenna configuration for remote-controlled blasts from a far range and petrol bombs were found. He said that the technique was used by the Maoist ultras possibly for the first time to target security forces in Bastar region, over 340 kilometres from here.

Chhattisgarh: 4 Naxal IEDs with tree-top antenna, petrol bombs found
Chhattisgarh: 4 Naxal IEDs with tree-top antenna, petrol bombs found

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Published : May 16, 2020, 1:45 PM IST

Raipur: Four Naxal IEDs with a battery- antenna configuration for remote-controlled blasts from a far range and petrol bombs to magnify the damage were recovered on Friday in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district.

A senior police official said that the technique was used by the Maoist ultras possibly for the first time to target security forces in Bastar region, over 340 kilometres from here.

The improvised explosive devices were found between Bodli and Malewahi villages under Barsur police station limits when a team of security forces was on patrol to provide protection to a road construction project, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava told.

"The patrolling team found the IEDs, each weighing around 5 kilograms. The IEDs were connected to batteries and
antenna to trigger a blast through remote control. The antenna was placed on the top of a tree so that remote can be used in detonating the blast from a far range," he said.

"Naxals have possibly used such techniques for the first time to target security forces in Bastar region," said
Pallava.

"A large number of petrol bombs were also recovered from the spot, possibly to cause massive damage," he said,
adding that the explosives were destroyed by the bomb disposal squad.

He said some 300 personnel, belonging to District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF) and Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF), were involved in the operation.

Road construction work is underway between Palli (Narayanpur) and Barsur (Dantewada), in the heart of Maoist
stronghold, and Bodli and Malewahi villages are part of the route.

"As many as six camps have been set up on this route to provide security cover to the project, and the one at Bodli is the most crucial," officials said.

"Over five Naxal incidents, including the March 14 attack in which two CAF personnel were killed, have occurred
on this route this year," the SP said.

(PTI REPORT)

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