Bastar attack signals shift in Maoist tactics

According to records seen by HT, in the first three months of 2023, security forces in Chhattisgarh recovered at least 38 IEDs. The number of IEDs recovered and defused last year was 173

The attack on Wednesday that killed 10 policemen and a driver in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada is symptomatic of a shift in tactics by the left-wing extremists, who are turning to larger explosives to create a spectacle with more lethal attacks at a time when their numbers are dwindling, security officials aware of the ground situation said.

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These groups have typically been known for more guerrilla warfare strategies involving armed ambushes and abductions. But records of the nature of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) seized by security forces in recent months show that the trend is changing. On Wednesday, they used what is estimated to be 40kg of explosives to build a bomb that blew up a police vehicle, instantly killing the 11 victims and leaving behind a 12-foot deep crater.

“Unlike the past, when lighter IEDs – weighing 5 to15 kg -- were common, forces are regularly recovering heavy IEDs that weigh around 25-40kg,” said an official, asking not to be named.

“It was unfortunate that the IED that caused the explosion on Wednesday that killed 11 could not be detected and it led to one of the worst attacks in recent years. But we have been regularly recovering IEDs of similar volume that weigh 25 and 30 kg, which could have caused similar level of damage had they not been detected,” said this person, who is a senior officer aware of the anti-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh.

On January 7, security forces recovered an IED weighing at least 25 kg from the Mirthur road in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district. On September 16, last year, two IEDs that weighed 30kg each were recovered from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand. In March this year, another IED weighing nearly 25 kg was recovered from Jharkhand’s West Singbhum district.

At around 2.45pm on Wednesday, 10 policemen and a civilian driving them in a rented minivan were killed when an IED was triggered remotely to target what was the second vehicle in a four-vehicle convoy, carrying personnel of the Chhattisgarh police returning after an anti-Maoist operation 75 km away from the place of explosion.

According to records seen by HT, in the first three months of 2023, security forces in Chhattisgarh recovered at least 38 IEDs. The number of IEDs recovered and defused last year was 173.

The official quoted above, said, “From the confession of the people who have surrendered we have learnt that they are using heavy IEDs to cause maximum damage and create a spectacle. The earlier tactic they adopted was to move around in groups of hundreds and then ambush the security personnel. With many of the cadres arrested in recent years and surrenders by many others, they have changed their tactic. A small group of Maoists make these heavy IEDs and target vehicles to cause maximum damage.”

The number of Maoists who have surrendered before security forces in Chhattisgarh in recent years has been in the hundreds. Last year, 415 Maoists surrendered in Chhattisgarh while the number in 2021 was 537, 351 in 2020 and 327 in 2019. According to CRPF data, at least 145 have surrendered in the first three months of 2023.

A second officer posted in Chhattisgarh also said that while the weapons and technology used by security forces have improved over the years, there is a reduction in arms that Maoists manage to rob from forces after or during attack. This, the official said, is also why they prefer to target security forces using IEDs and not ambush them in a shootout.

According to the force’s data, in 2020 there were 19 incidents in which Maoists had robbed weapons from security personnel, which decreased to 14 in 2021. Last year there was only one such incident.

Retired IPS officer, SP Vaid, who was the director general of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) police between 2016 and 2018, said Maoists have realised that using an IED is less risky and the chances of them coming in contact with security forces is minimised when IEDs are used.

“In J&K, we found smaller IEDs weighing around 4-5 kg. In some few cases, we recovered IEDs that weighed around 30 kg. I believe a similar weighing IED was used during the Pulwama attack too. In earlier years, the Maoists used small intensity IEDs to disrupt the forces and then engaged in shooting. Today they know that the security forces are better equipped, they are outnumbered, have no escape route, and thus resort to using remote devices to cause the damage. This is their preferred mode,” said Vaid.

The government has maintained that cases of left-wing extremist violence has reduced by more than 70% in comparison to 2010, when such attacks were at their peak.

The Union home ministry said last year that attacks by Maoist groups reduced significantly over the years. From a high of 2,259 cases in 2009 across the country, cases last year stood at 509. The death toll in 2010 was 1,005 which was reduced to 147 last year.

The home ministry had in September 2022 said that over the years there has been a steady decline across the country in the incidents of violence by left-wing extremist groups and the territories they controlled. From 96 districts in 2010, the Maoists in 2022 wielded control in 10 districts.

Also barring 2022 when there was a slight increase in incidents of “exchange of fire” between Maoist and security personnel, there has been a decline in such incidents in Chhattisgarh. In 2018 there were 109 such incidents, followed by 88 in 2019, 85 in 2020 and 77 in 2021. In 2022 there were 91 such cases.

In Jharkhand too barring one year(2020) when there was a slight increase(54 cases), such shoot-out incidents between forces and Maoists have declined over the years. From 52 exchange of fire incidents in 2018, the number came down to 30 in 2022.