Bijapur Naxal blast: 5 out of 8 policemen killed were former Naxalites; experts question how explosives remained undetected despite ROP checks, demining

Raipur: Of the eight security personnel who lost their lives in a Maoist blast in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district a day ago, five had joined the police force after quitting Naxalism, a senior official said.

Head Constable Budhram Korsa, constables Dumma Markam, Pandaru Ram, Baman Sodhi, all belonging to the District Reserve Guard (DRG), and constable Somdu Vetti of Bastar Fighters were earlier active as Naxalites and joined the police force after they surrendered, Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P told PTI.

Korsa and Sodhi were natives of Bijapur district, while three others hailed from adjoining Dantewada district, he said.

Last year, 792 Naxalites had surrendered in Bastar region, comprising seven districts, he said.

Eight security personnel, four each from DRG and Bastar Fighters'”both units of state police, and a civilian driver were killed after Naxalites blew up a vehicle which was part of a convoy carrying security personnel near Ambeli village under the Kutru police station area of the district on Monday. It was the biggest strike on security forces by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh in the last two years.

Dubbed as "sons of soil", the DRG personnel are recruited from among local youth and surrendered Naxals in Bastar division. It is considered as a frontline anti-Naxal force in the state.

The DRG was raised over different periods of time in seven districts of Bastar spread in an area of around 40,000 sq kms, to fight the menace of Left Wing Extremism ongoing from over the past four decades.

It was first set up in Kanker (north Bastar) and Narayanpur (comprising Abhujmad) districts in 2008 and after a gap of five years, the force was raised in Bijapur and Bastar districts in 2013. Subsequently, it was expanded in Sukma and Kondagaon districts in 2014, while in Dantewada, the force was raised in 2015.

State police's 'Bastar Fighters' unit was raised in 2022, wherein local Bastar youth who are familiar with the local culture, language, terrain and have a bond with the tribals, were recruited.

In the wake of the blast, experts have sought to know how the explosives remained undetected despite the demining exercise, and pointed to lapses on the part of the road opening party (ROP).

An ROP is a designated team responsible for checking, clearing, and monitoring the roads before convoys and high-value assets move across them in the Naxal-infested areas.

"It is surprising how such a powerful explosive remained undetected despite ROP and demining exercises. Security forces use hi-tech metal detector and sniffer dogs during de-mining operation upto 100-150 meters on both sides of a road," said Dr Girishkant Pandey, a security expert and principal at a government college in Nawagarh (Bemetara district).

When such a large movement of security forces was taking place, the ROP should have been on the entire stretch of the route so that suspicious movement could be spotted. A small team of Naxalites which executed the blast must have been positioned within sight of the road to trigger the explosion, he said.

Prima facie, the ROP failed to work properly, Pandey said.

Talking to PTI, Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P said, "It appears the explosive weighed more than 50 kg and was planted 4 to 5 feet deep beneath the road around six months or a year back as there was no evidence of fresh digging of soil nearby it."

"Explosive and ballistic experts have been investigating how the explosive remained undetected despite frequent demining exercises in the area. The explosive must have been packed in some non-metallic object or plastic bag," he said.

On the nature of the explosives, he said there is a chance of the use of ammonium nitrate but the exact nature will be known after investigation.

The police also said that they suspect the involvement of Matwada local organisation squad (LOS) of Maoists in carrying out the deadly blast. He also said that preliminary investigation suggests Matwada LOS members along with cadres of area committees could be behind executing the incident, but the investigation is underway into it, he said.

Matwada LOS of Maoists is active in the Kutru area which is also a confluence of Bhairamgarh and National Park area committees of Maoists. Queried about the violation of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), the IG said, the personnel followed the operational tactics.

After completing the three-day long operation in Abujhmaad, different teams of security forces, more than 1000 in number, reached Bedre (Bijapur) on January 6 morning. Deputy Inspector General of Police (South Bastar) Kamlochan Kashyap and Dantewada Superintendent of Police Gaurav Rai had reached Bedre from Dantewada using the same route after it was sanitised to monitor the safe return of security forces to their bases, he said.

"On the way back from operations, we use vehicles to ferry security forces after some point. On Monday also, security forces reached Bedre after covering 70-80 km on foot during their operation in the jungle following which they were being sent to their bases on four wheelers and motorcycles," he said.

DRG and Bastar Fighters teams left Bedre in around 12 vehicles. The vehicles were moving sequentially, but the distance between the two was 300-500 metres. The vehicle which was targeted was in the seventh position, he said.

The explosion was so severe that parts of the vehicle were found 100-150 hundred metres away from the spot of the blast. Some parts of the vehicle hit the vehicle which was coming from behind causing damage to its windshield. However, security personnel in that vehicle remained unharmed, he said.

Sundarraj said IEDs planted randomly in forests and roads by Naxalites have always been a challenge in counter-insurgency operations but it doesn't mean the security agencies cannot deal with them.

"We have recovered 311 IEDs in Bastar division comprising seven districts, last year. It was an unfortunate incident but it will not affect the operational commitment of security forces whose morale is high after achieving success in the anti-naxal front last year," he added.