The SSB Jawans Were On Way Home After 2-Yr Stint-ToI-8.10.11

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Jagdalpur: Alarm went through the whole of Bastar on Friday where three Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) jawans were killed and one injured in a landmine blast triggered by the Maoists on NH-16, the busiest and until now the safest road in the insurgency-hit region connecting Dantewada with Bastar’s district headquarters, Jagdalpur. The security set-up is viewing this as the increasing brazenness of the rebels. 
    Built by Border Roads Organisation (BRO), the 86-km stretch of smooth highway hadn’t witnessed a single such attack until Friday. A convoy of 11 mini trucks carrying men and supplies of SSB’s 41 battalion in Dantewada left for Raipur early in the morning. The SSB jawans were in Dantewada for the past two years and were about to leave the state and celebrate Diwali with their family members when they were killed. “Deployed since 2008 to secure government camps, SSB is being withdrawn from the district. This was the last contingent to leave,” said Dantewada SP Ankit Garg. 
    As the convoy passed through Dantewada and entered Bastar near Pendra village, 60km short of Jagdalpur and 26km short of Dantewada, an explosion hit the fourth truck. Four jawans were travelling in the front cabin. Two died instantly while a third succumbed to his wounds in a Jagdalpur hospital. The other injured jawan is undergoing treatment. 
    Those killed were head constable Dharmesh Nath from Assam, constable Vivek Yadav from Bihar, and constable Dilip Choreli from Kerala. The injured policeman is Praveen Kumar. 
    The explosion left a deep crater. “The crater is five-feet deep. On a road as strong as this, it means a very large quantity of explosives was planted,” said Garg. Assorted boxes containing kitchen appliances, maps and boards, came apart, spilling their shattered content, 20 feet away from a crater in the road. 
    Asked how the explosives could have been planted under a well-built highway, T J Longkumer, Bastar’s Inspector general, said these might have been planted by digging a hole from the side of the highway. 
    While the area is considered insurgency free, the police said three months ago, on July 4, there was exchange with Maoists 10km from the spot, near Korangali village.