Sukma: Security forces on Tuesday recovered IED weighing 10 kg in Sukma of Chhattisgarh, a day after eight security personnel and the driver of the vehicle they were travelling in were blown up in a blast.
A combined team of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and district police found the explosive device near Belpochcha village on the Konta-Golapalli road, a police official said.
He said during a de-mining exercise on the route, security personnel spotted the IED planted under the road and averted a major mishap. The explosive has been neutralised.
Naxalites on Monday blew up the security personnel's vehicle using a 60-70 kg IED near Ambeli village under the Kutru police station area in Bijapur in which eight security personnel, four each from the state police's District Reserve Guard (DRG) and Bastar Fighters units, travelling in the SUV and the driver died on the spot.
Naxalites often plant explosives to target security forces during their anti-Naxal operations in Bastar division, comprising seven districts, including Sukma, police said.
Hours before the deadly naxal-triggered blast in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur, jawans of the 196th Battalion of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had reportedly recovered a 20-22kg improvised explosive device (IED) during a combing operation in the area early Monday morning, hinting that the Maoists had planned series of blasts in Bijapur.
As per reports, the IEDs detected inside a blue plastic drum buried beneath a kutcha road in the Usur police station area, have been safely neutralised.
Confirming the IED recovery, a senior CRPF officer praised the team's efforts in thwarting a potential attack by the Naxals. He said a major tragedy was averted, as the IED was detected and successfully destroyed.
Sources said that CRPF jawans used a JCB to carefully recover the IED from under the road. The IED weighing around 20-22 kg was defused by the bomb disposal squad within a few hours before the movement of traffic in the area returned to normalcy.
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