A day after 10 District Reserve Guard (DRG) personnel and their driver were killed in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district, a preliminary analysis by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) has revealed that Maoists allegedly received signals about the presence of uniformed jawans when some locals stopped the vehicle just 100 metres from the IED point and requested donations for the Aamaa festival.
Another truck in the convoy, carrying two Maoists who had been arrested, successfully passed through the same location minutes prior to the explosion which occurred on the Aranpur road on Wednesday between 1 and 1.30 pm, around 50 kilometres from the district administrative centre.
The incidents that led up to Wednesday’s attack began on April 18, when Maoists opened fire on the convoy of Congress MLA Vikram Mandavi from the Bijapur district. He was travelling back to the city from a visit to a village in the Gangaloor tehsil when the assault was carried out on the Gangaloor-Padeda road.
“Investigation has revealed that the weapon of the assailant got jammed when they attacked the lawmaker. His driver in the meantime managed to speed away from the spot,” a source unveiled.
Following this incident, a special operation was launched and DRG personnel travelled to Aranpur in hired civil vehicles from their headquarters in Dantewada town. “After reaching Aranpur police station on April 24, they parked their vehicles for 48 hours and got on with the operation,” the source disclosed.
The team sprang into action after learning of the presence of armed Maoists close to Aranpur, informed an officer. “On Wednesday morning, there was an exchange of fire between the patrolling team and the Maoists near Nahadi village, around 7 km from Aranpur, following which two suspected Maoists suffered gunshot wounds. They were rounded up and were being brought back to the district headquarters in a convoy,” the source revealed.
A Central intelligence officer asserted that according to protocol, security personnel could only advance in an operation after receiving precise intelligence inputs and sanitising the route. In order to ensure that the convoy is not in danger, security services may enlist the aid of Road Opening Party (ROP).
“When they (DRG personnel) were returning, there was no ROP in place and the first vehicle, in which the two suspected Maoists were travelling, crossed the first (IED) point. The second vehicle (a private van) was stopped by the locals on the pretext of asking for some donation for the Aamaa festival,” a source revealed, mentioning the preliminary assessment report, which was handed over to senior officials on Thursday.
The fact that the driver, Dhaniram Yadav, had halted the car approximately 100 metres before the IED location also became apparent during the early investigation. It was also discovered that the explosive device was planted a day or two prior to the attack.
“There is a strong possibility that the locals signalled the Maoists that the DRG jawans were present and they were also carrying weapons. As soon as the van reached the point, the blast occurred and the vehicle flew some 50 metres,” the source remarked.
The source added, “Minutes after the Maoists set off the IED, they ran towards the van and tried to snatch the weapons. The DRG jawans in the next vehicle opened fire and the Maoists escaped from the spot.”
The officials have also noted that this incident is a recurrence of the 2021 Bukintor ambush, in which an IED explosion between Camp Kadenar and Kanhargaon resulted in the deaths of five jawans and the injuries of 13 more.
