CG: Security forces unearth powerful IED in Bijapur district

Team Udayavani, Nov 5, 2018, 8:59 AM IST

Chhattisgarh: Security forces in poll-bound Chhattisgarh Sunday averted a possible tragedy when they recovered a powerful improvised explosive device (IED) planted by naxals in insurgency-hit Bijapur district, the police said.

Bijapur, around 450 kms from here, is one of the eight naxal-hit districts where polling will be held during the first phase on November 12.

The 15-kg explosive was unearthed by a joint team of Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA)- an elite unit of the CRPF–and local police from a dirt track near Lingagiri village under Basaguda police station limits, Bijapur superintendent of police Mohit Garg told PTI.

On a tip-off, security forces detected theIED that was packed in a steel tiffinhidden beneath the earth, averting a major mishap, he said.

“A bomb disposal squad immediately destroyed the explosives,” he added.

Maoists plantIEDs on the routes being used by security forces during their operations, he said, adding that these tracks cut through dense forests.

Security forces have intensified their operations in the naxal-affected Bastar division ahead of the assembly polls to be held on November 12 and 20.

Ultras have called upon voters to boycott the polls.

The first phase of polls covering 18 constituencies in eight naxal-affected districts Bastar, Kanker, Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Rajnandgaon- will be held on November 12 and the second phase for 72 constituencies on November 20.

Counting of votes will be taken up on December 11.

Chhattisgarh had recently witnessed a spate of Naxal violence in Dantewada and Bijapur districts.

Two policemen and a cameraperson of Doordarshan were killed and two others were injured in a deadly Maoist attack on October 30 in Dantewada district.

Two naxals were also believed to be killed in retaliatory action by the security forces after the ambush in a forest area near Nilawaya village.

On October 27, four CRPF personnel were killed and two others were injured when Maoists blew up their bullet proof bunker vehicle in Awapalli area of Bijapur district.

The next day, a BJP leader and member of Dantewada Zila Panchayat Nandlal Mudiyami was seriously injured after ultras attacked him with sharp-edged weapons at his village Palnar in Dantwada.