Raipur: As many as eight personnel of District Reserve Guard (a specialized counter-insurgency unit of the police) and a civilian driver was killed following a strong Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion in Maoist affected Bijapur district on Monday, January 6, said police.
According to the reports, the explosion hit the security forces vehicle near Ambeli village on Monday’s afternoon, marking the worst attack carried out by the Maoists since the Aranpur attack in Dantewada. The personnel were returning towards the base after conclusion of a massive counter-insurgency operation
Sharing the initial details of the attack IG Bastar P Sundarraj, said “For the last 3 days, in Narayanpur district, Dantewada and Bijapur region, anti-Naxalites operation was going on. During this operation, we had recovered the bodies of 5 naxals and one jawan had lost his life…when the team was returning, in Bijapur’s Ambeli area, an IED blast was carried out by Naxals. 8 Dantewada DRG jawans and one driver lost their lives in the attack.
#WATCH | Chhattisgarh: On Bijapur IED blast, IG Bastar P Sundarraj says ” For the last 3 days, in Narayanpur district, Dantewada and Bijapur region, anti-Naxalites operation was going on. During this operation, we had recovered the bodies of 5 naxals and one jawan had lost his… pic.twitter.com/HTXD99LX3C
— ANI (@ANI) January 6, 2025
“Reinforcements have been dispatched to the incident site and the process of identification of the personnel martyred in the action is being carried out. Further details are awaited,” he added.
Reacting to the news, Chhattisgarh Assembly Speaker & former CM, Dr. Raman Singh says, ” Whenever big operations happen against them, these Maoists come down to cowardly attack…I express my condolences to the families of the jawans who lost their lives in this attack…The big step that Chhattisgarh government and central government are taking, will take this step forward further…”
#WATCH | Chhattisgarh: On Bijapur IED blast, Chhattisgarh Assembly Speaker & former CM, Dr Raman Singh says, ” Whenever big operations happen against them, these Naxalites come down to cowardly attack…I express my condolences to the families of the jawans who lost their lives… pic.twitter.com/ostGm1kvtu
— ANI (@ANI) January 6, 2025
Calling it a cowardly act carried out by the Maoists, Chhattisgarh Deputy CM Arun Sao says “Information about a cowardly attack by Maoists has come from Bijapur. I express condolences for the Jawans…this is a cowardly action…as Jawans are working towards eliminating Maoists…they have done this due to desperation and disappointment. This sacrifice of the jawans won’t go in vain”
Notably, the development has occurred on the heels of security forces major offensive against the Maoists in the south Abujhmarh area on Sunday, resulting in neutralisation of 5 Maoists. A DRG head constable Sannu Karam had also laid down his lives during the gunfight.
The operation was conducted in the South Abujmarh forest area at the Narayanpur-Dantewada district by the Special Task Force (STF) in coordination with DRG teams from Narayanpur, Dantewada, Jagdalpur, and Kondagaon districts.
