Bijapur (Chhattisgarh): Three improvised explosive devices (IED), planted by Naxalites, were detected and neutralised by security forces in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Friday, police said. Two IEDs, weighing 25 kg each while one IED of five kg were planted beneath a blacktop road using the foxhole mechanism, which involves digging a tunnel from the side of the road to place the explosives, they added.
A senior police official told reporters, "Two IEDs were planted under the blacktop road using the foxhole mechanism, in which a tunnel was also made on the side of the road to keep the explosives. This was exactly the same conspiracy Naxalites had hatched in an IED blast in Dantewada and blew up the vehicle of DRG jawans. In this blast, 10 DRG jawans were martyred. While a civilian who was the driver of the vehicle was killed."
"Two IEDs were planted on the Awapalli Basaguda Road in Bijapur. It was planted to target security forces personnel. But the team of CRPF 168th battalion foiled this conspiracy on time and seized IEDs weighing a total of 50 kg. The security forces team also discovered a landmine. The IEDs were recovered by digging the road. The explosives kept in plastic bags were placed four feet below the road by digging a tunnel five feet in height and five feet in width from the roadside. The explosives were connected to a command switch through a long wire," the official added.
The official said a pressure IED, weighing 5 kg, was also recovered between Dharmaram village and Chintavagu river by personnel belonging to the CRPF's 151st battalion and CoBRA's 204th (an elite unit of CRPF). Earlier in the day, two workers were killed and another sustained injuries after a pressure IED planted by Naxalites went off at an iron ore mine site in the neighbouring Narayanpur district, police said.
On April 26, 10 personnel of the police's District Reserve Guard (DRG) and a civilian driver were killed after Naxalites blew up a MUV, which was part of the convoy carrying security personnel in Aranpur police station area of neighbouring Dantewada district. Police had said the IED, weighing around 40-50 kg, was planted using the foxhole mechanism by a digging tunnel from the side of the road.
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