Maoists kill 11 in attack on police van in Bastar

Officers said they will investigate whether the standard operating procedure for travelling in Maoist regions was followed, how the rebels planted an IED so close to a police station

Ten policemen and a civilian driver were killed in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district on Wednesday after Maoists blew up the rented minivan they were travelling in, marking the worst attack since April 2021 in the thickly forested region that is among the last strongholds of the leftist extremist rebels.

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Police officials said that 40kg of explosives were used to make the improvised explosive device (IED) that was set off roughly 700m from the Aranpur police station around 2.45pm, and that it was triggered remotely to target the second of the four-vehicle convoy — an open minivan with no shielding or protection. The personnel were on their way back after an anti-Maoist operation around 75km away. The first vehicle, an SUV, passed by the spot and Maoists exchanged gunfire with the third vehicle.

“It was a horrific incident. I was around 200 metres from the vehicle and saw the bodies blown into pieces,” said the driver of third vehicle, requesting anonymity due to security concerns.

But the attack also fuelled speculation about possible lapses in security. Officers said they will investigate whether the standard operating procedure for travelling in Maoist regions was followed, how the rebels planted an IED so close to a police station, and if the security forces should have been travelling in smaller groups in better-protected vehicles instead of a commercial minivan.

The blast left an eight-foot crater on the ground, with mangled parts of the vehicle strewn about.

“We have found 150 metres long wire through which the IED was triggered by at least three Maoists who were hiding near a Mahua tree in the jungle,” said Bastar’s inspector general of police Sunderaj P.

The attack – which claimed the most casualties since 22 security personnel died in a gunfight with Maoists in Bastar two years ago – hit an arterial road critical for anti-Maoist operations and part of a trifecta of routes cutting through the heart of the rebel heartland.

“Strongly condemn the attack on the Chhattisgarh police in Dantewada. I pay my tributes to the brave personnel we lost in the attack,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Union home minister Amit Shah spoke to Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and promised all possible help. “Anguished by the cowardly attack on the Chhattisgarh police at Dantewada,” he tweeted.

Baghel called the attack saddening and said the fight against Maoists is in its last stage and that the Left-wing insurgents would not be spared.

The victims were part of the District Reserve Guard (DRG), which is staffed largely by local tribal communities and some former insurgents who laid down their arms.

The attack also underlined a lingering vulnerability of the forces to IEDs – the preferred mode of attack by Maoists to limit losses and costs – especially in the forested southern tip of Chhattisgarh that borders Telangana and Odisha, where primitive infrastructure and inhospitable terrain render security operations challenging.

In December, Union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai told Parliament that incidents of left-wing violence reduced by 77% from a high of 2, 213 in 2010 to 509 in 2021. In January, Shah said they aim to make the country free from Maoism before the 2024 general elections.

The IG said the authorities decided to conduct an operation on Tuesday based on specific inputs that Maoists in Darbha division were camping near Aranpur jungle. On Tuesday, DRG jawans were called for an anti-Maoist operation in the Aranpur police station area.

“In early hours of Wednesday, an encounter took place in which two suspected Maoists were also detained and some sustained injuries in the jungle. On Wednesday afternoon, when the jawans were returning to Dantewada, Maoists targeted a vehicle in which 10 jawans and a civilian driver were killed,” the IG said.

Local police officers suspect that the Maoists had advance knowledge of the policemen returning in a convoy. “We suspect that the entire route of the convoy was being monitored and the attack was planned at a place surrounded by small hills, which provides Maoists the cover to attack,” said a senior police officer, aware of developments.

He added that the authorities were also looking at whether the standard operating procedure for travelling in Maoist-affected areas was followed. “Before the convoy moves, entire area has to be sanitised. In this case, whether it was done or not is matter of inquiry,” the officer said.

A second official said it appeared there was some laxity in troop movement that will be investigated. He said blast was triggered by a command IED that is triggered intentionally at a precise moment by someone close, and that the crater on the road suggested that the Maoists had dug a foxhole to plant the explosives at night. “That this could happen undetected so close to the Aranpur camp was a matter of concern. In this case, that no weapons were lost after the explosion likely meant that it was not a large posse hiding in the forests, but a small strike team. These are all matters of investigation,” said the official.

A third official said that it was obvious that the troop movement in an open minivan broke protocol. “It is true that troops cannot always move in an Mine Protected Vehicle, which is not attack-proof in any case. But the ideal protocol is for troops to move in motorcycles, two to a vehicle, and spaced out that minimises casualties. In this case, that obviously has not happened,” the third official said.

“Aranpur has been an established camp for several years, and with the road going forward towards Jagargunda, other camps down the road are considered forward bases’ That perhaps bred a certain carelessness,” the official added.

The fresh attack came months after seven security personnel, including an army jawan, were killed in suspected Maoist attacks across Chhattisgarh over one week in February.