Raipur, Jan 31
A joint team of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Dantewada’s District Reserve Guard (DRG) teams have discovered a tunnel made by Naxals as part of their guerrilla warfare tactics in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur.
According to officials, the security forces found the tunnel hours before three security personnel were killed in an encounter with Maoists in the state’s Bastar region on Tuesday.
Chhattisgarh The security forces had earlier received input about a tunnel being made by Naxals but discovered it for the first time, said a security official.The discovery of the tunnel, 130 metre long and six feet deep, is being seen as a strategically significant discovery. The security forces had earlier received input about a tunnel being made by Naxals but discovered it for the first time, said a security official.
The tunnel was located in Tadopot village approximately two and half kilometres ahead of Bhairamgarh and the Indravati River in the Bijapur district. It was nearly 35 km from the Dantewada district headquarters.
“The forces had received information about the presence of 25 to 30 armed Maoists, including Indravati area committee’s commander Mallesh, hiding at some distance across the Indravati River following which a joint team of CRPF and DRG set out on the operation on Wednesday morning,” said Gaurav Rai, Superintendent of Police, Dantewada.
However, when the forces reached the spot the Naxals had fled after which the personnel destroyed three camps and were returning. While coming back from the spot at around 11 am on Tuesday, the Naxals fired at the security forces with Barrel Grenade Launcher (BGL) and automatic weapons like AK47, INSAS rifles, and SLR guns.
The security forces retaliated but the Naxals fled taking advantage of forest cover.
After the encounter, officials said, the forces recovered spikes and a pressure cooker bomb, like an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), and found the tunnel at some distance.
They also destroyed some monuments made in memory of the Naxals killed by the forces, the officials added. On Tuesday, three CRPF personnel, including two from the specialised Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), were killed in an encounter with Maoists on the border of Sukma and Bijapur districts.
