Route Where Maoists Targeted Cops Wasn't Cleared By Road-Opening Patrol

Questions have been raised over why a road-opening patrol did not sanitise the route that a convoy of policemen took on Wednesday before Maoists ambushed them with an improvised explosive device (IED) in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada.

Ten policemen of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and a driver who were travelling in a rented van - the third vehicle in the convoy - were killed in the attack.

A road-opening patrol usually consists of a small, nimble team that checks a route for a possible ambush and clears other threats ahead of the main convoy's arrival. Such a patrol did not clear the road that the convoy took today in the Maoist-infested forest in Dantewada as a local festival popular with children called 'Ama Pandum' was being celebrated some 100 metres from the ambush site, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

While vehicles often speed on the road that cuts through the forested area, they slow down whenever the festival is held since many children tend to be around. The festival involves children asking for money from elders and passers-by to buy mangoes, hence the name 'Ama Pandum'.

The DRG convoy slowed down on this stretch today due to the festival, people with direct knowledge of the matter told NDTV.

The Maoists may have forced the locals to hold the festival near the ambush site so that they can carry out the attack since the convoy would be travelling at a slower speed, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified.

The road-opening patrols used to walk down the route they want to sanitise or ride two-wheelers, but they have been using four-wheelers for the past few months, sources said.

The DRG's operations manual, however, do not recommend road-opening patrols and other field teams to use four-wheelers, sources said.

The Maoists used a massive 50-kg IED to attack the convoy, which flung the van that has no ballistic protection at least 20 feet in the air. The debris of the destroyed van also fell 150 metres from the blast site.

Visuals of the ambush site in Dantewada district show a big crater - 10 feet deep and 20 feet wide - that covers the road's entire width, indicating the Maoists used a huge quantity of explosives to trigger the ambush.

The Maoists appeared to have fled the area immediately after the attack as they did not take the weapons that the policemen had been carrying. In past attacks, Maoist often looted weapons after an ambush.

The DRG team was returning after conducting an anti-Maoist operation when the attack happened.

The special security forces tasked with combating Maoists are looking for the attackers, who have disappeared in the jungle, sources said, adding the area is a tri-junction of three states.

The Maoist attack appears to be a desperate attempt to assert control in the area as they are already in a retreat due to intense and consistent operations by the security forces, which have achieved a string of successes against the Maoists in recent times.

Over 400 Maoists have been surrendering every year following the government's rehabilitation policy, Sundarraj P, Inspector General of Police of Bastar range, told news agency ANI.

He said most of the Maoist leaders left now are usually from states outside Chhattisgarh such as Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the "sacrifice" of the policemen "will always be remembered".

"Strongly condemn the attack on the Chhattisgarh police in Dantewada. I pay my tributes to the brave personnel we lost in the attack. Their sacrifice will always be remembered. My condolences to the bereaved families," PM Modi tweeted.

Today's attack came a week after Maoists fired at the convoy of a Congress MLA in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur while he was returning from a public meeting. No one was injured in the attack.

The last major attack by Maoists took place in April 2021 when 22 security personnel were killed in action in the jungles between Bijapur and Sukma districts.