Bijapur: 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 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 movement of traffic in the area returned to normalcy.
However, later in the day, around 2.15pm, the naxals launched their deadliest strike on security forces in Chhattisgarh in two years, blowing up a vehicle using a 60-70 kg strong IED near Ambeli village under the Kutru police station area. Eight security personnel along with a civilian driver were killed on the spot.
Tuesday afternoon, the CRPF Director General Vitul Kumar reached Chhattisgarh from Delhi to review the security operations and analyse the deadly blast in Bijapur district. As per the officials, the acting chief of the paramilitary force is expected to visit the attack site, participate in the wreath laying ceremony of the jawans, and chair a review meeting of his force.
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