28 Jawans Injured; Blast, A Day After Jairam’s Visit
Nagpur:A powerful improvised explosive device (IED) claimed the lives of 12 CRPF jawans and left 28 others wounded, around 38km from Gadchiroli, in Maharashtra, on Tuesday. The blast, said to have been triggered by a solitary attacker, took place a kilometre away from Pustola village on the road between Karwafa and Fulbodi Gatta villages, in Dhanora tehsil, at 11:40am.
The police have arrested 21 people from nearby villages after the attack. The explosion comes just two days after the visit of Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh to the area.
The blast targeted a five-vehicle CRPF convoy heading to the Gatta armed out post (AOP), which is the base for the 192 Battalion. The men were headed for a civic action programme, organized to drum up support among villagers.
CRPF additional-director general (operations) P M Nair told TOI, “It’s unfortunate that CRPF men who were taking medicines, food and clothes for women and children in the remote villages as part of our Sadbhavana programme were targeted by the Maoists.”
The Maoist who triggered the blast let the first vehicle, a hired taxi, pass. The next vehicle, a minibus with Rajasthan registration number (RJ-01-1096) carrying 40 CRPF jawans, was blown up. Another bus carrying material to be distributed to villagers and two jeeps were following this bus. This indicates the attacker had information about the occupants of the convoy.
The blast threw the ill-fated ash-coloured bus 15ft into the air, and deposited it 20ft away from the road. It left a crater six feet deep and 15ft wide, and ripped apart the driver’s cabin. The bodies of CRPF jawans in the front seats were thrown out. Those at the rear escaped from the mangled remains of the vehicle in the parched field adjoining the road. Jawans in the other vehicles immediately took up defensive positions, but there was no follow-up firing from rebels. Three sub-inspectors were among the 11 who died on the spot. Nine seriously injured jawans were taken to Gadchiroli first, and then flown by helicopter to Nagpur. One of them, constable PK Shibbu, died on the way while four are critical. Around 20 jawans have been admitted to the district hospital at Gadchiroli.
The driver of the bus, SN Yadav, and another jawan sitting beside him, were flung almost 50ft away from the bus. The driver’s shoe and dismembered leg were left trapped near the brake pedal. Blood stains, severed limbs and torn pieces of clothes and shoes spoke of the horror of the blast.
Sources said a senior ranking officer was to participate in the civic action at Gatta, so CRPF jawans were being rushed to the spot to make the necessary preparations. It’s not known whether the road opening was conducted as per standard operating procedures before the convoy was allowed to pass through the sensitive area. Single attacker triggered blast?
Security forces later traced a wire leading from the IED’s location to an exploder, 70ft away, behind a bush. They suspect a single attacker triggered the IED planted under the asphalted road.
Asmall heap of dried branches near the bush indicated the attacker had used branches cut from nearby bushes to shelter himself from the heat and also camouflage his position. A nullah leading to dense jungle in the vicinity was probably used by the insurgent to sneak away after the blast.
Analysis of the blast may again bring to fore faltering coordination between the CRPF and district police. Sources said they had inputs of heavy Naxal presence in the locality. In fact, residents of nearby village Pustola had stopped using the roads. Local police too knew that using the roads could be dangerous, said sources.
Also, the Maoists had recently challenged security forces through letters and pamphlets, claiming they would repeat the Laheri massacre, where 17 police personnel were killed in October 2009.
Rescue and reinforcement teams had rushed to the spot after information of the ambush was relayed back to the Gadchiroli headquarters.
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