Bijapur Maoist attack: Ground zero tells severity of blast, smells of explosives

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RAIPUR: Hours after a powerful IED blast triggered by Maoists killed eight security personnel and a driver, the Ambeli village with scarce population, smells of explosives in the air, as if reminding the horrific history that this village had once lived during the anti-Maoist movement of Salwa Judum which started from Ambeli in June 2004.

While the locals were too reserved to speak to the outside visitors, what remained on ‘ground zero' was scattered vehicle wreckage, shoes of jawans, torn and burnt pieces of unrecognizable stuff.

A local resident Rajesh, who was walking down to Kutru to sell his rice, said he was very young when the Salwa Judum movement started. A faint memory still lingers in his mind. Relief camps are still running in the village, where people who were tortured by the Maoists are residing.

A team of DGP Ashok Juneja, Bastar IG P Sundarraj, senior CRPF commandos, Bijapur SP Jitendra Yadav went to the blast site to inspect and assess the situation.

Why the Maoists would have chosen Ambeli village? A senior officer said that one reason could be that the mobile network at the site is completely down.

DIG Kamlochan Kashyap, who visited the site to assess the situation, said that the lapses in SOP compliance are being reviewed. Efforts will be made to ensure that such mistakes are not repeated, so that the Maoists cannot succeed in their plans again, Kashyap said.

According to a local scribe visiting the site, the 8-foot-deep crater at the blast site tells tale of the severity of the explosion. The forensic team estimates that the Maoists planted more than 60 kgs of explosives and the area chosen by the Maoists for the blast had a cement concrete road, which now has cracks in several places.

Initially the driver was reported missing but it was found that the driver's body had completely blown apart.

A senior official said, after repeatedly facing defeat in direct combat with the forces, the Maoists have once again resorted to using IED blasts as their primary weapon. Such incidents, carried out by Maoists lurking and waiting for the right moment, are common in Bastar, he added. It is crucial for the soldiers to strictly adhere to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to prevent such incidents from happening again, the officer insisted.

"IEDs are the Naxals' main weapon. The forces have limited resources to detect them, which are not always effective. The Maoists take advantage of this and exploit even the smallest mistake made by the Maoist soldiers," another officer said.

The officials at ground zero believe that the Maoists carried out the explosion using a command IED as the marks of electric wires, recently cut, were clearly visible around the blast site. A large tree nearby indicates that the Maoists took cover behind it while detonating the command IED, which caused the damage to the forces.