NIA Alerts Bihar, Chhattisgarh And Jharkhand About Hidden IEDs Planted By Maoists

Maoists increasingly use IEDs to hinder security forces' movement, resorting to this tactic as direct armed attacks become more difficult for them.

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has alerted the Central Paramilitary Forces as well as state police in Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand about hidden improvised explosives devices (IEDs) in different locations of the three states.

The development takes place following the interrogations of several suspects involved with the Maoists' activities. On Tuesday last, NIA recovered two IEDs with three kg each from remote areas in Bihar.

“We are expecting to unearth more hidden IEDs from different places of the State,” said a senior security official to ETV Bharat on Monday.

According to the official, as the security agencies have been targeting the ultras in their bastion in Maoist affected States, the ultras to prove their existence will try to create sabotage by blowing IEDs.

“Against the backdrop of a massive ongoing anti-Maoist operation, the ultras are finding it difficult to attack the security forces with arms and ammunition. So, they would certainly try to plant IEDs in different locations,” the official, who is aware of the interrogation of arrested Maoists and their sympathisers, said.

It is worth mentioning that, last week, the anti-terror agency working in close coordination with the Bihar police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), recovered two IEDs hidden by CPI (Maoist) cadres in a forest area in Bihar’s Gaya district.

Acting on a tip-off, the NIA team coordinated with a Special Task Force (STF) of the state and the CRPF to plan out a meticulous and safe operation to locate the IEDs in the difficult forest terrain.

“The combing operation led to the seizure of the two IEDs, weighing about three kg each and concealed under land between two rocks of Kari Pahadi,” the NIA said.

In fact, the recovery was based on intelligence about the concealment of two IEDs by the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation in the Bhusiya forest area in the Lutuwa area of Gaya. The anti-terror agency sent a team to the area after analysing the information.

“We believe there are several other locations where the Maoists might have planted IEDs,” the official said. Another official said that several IEDs have been planted by Maoists in the Saranda jungles of Chaibasa in Jharkhand to check the advance of security forces.

Speaking to ETV Bharat, renowned security expert Brigadier (retd) BK Khanna said that IEDs have become a challenge for the security forces as their components are easily available in the market and could be prepared within hours by an expert.

“They (Maoists) can plant IEDs targeting the security forces in selected locations in advance. This is posing a significant risk to security operations against the Maoist cadre hiding in deep forests, said Brigadier Khanna.

In March, a joint team of CRPF and State police in Chhattisgarh recovered 96 IEDs besides 348 detonators, 29.3 kg explosives and two gelatine sticks.

In January this year, at least eight soldiers and a civilian diver were killed in an IED blast carried by the Maoists in the Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh.

Last month, two security personnel and a civilian driver sustained injuries when Maoists triggered a powerful IED blast, followed by firing on a vehicle carrying personnel of the Special Task Force in insurgency-hit Bijapur district of Bastar division in Chhattisgarh.

At least 10 District Reserve Guard (DRG) personnel and a civilian driver have been killed in IED blasts carried by the Maoists in the Aranpur area of Dantewada district in 2023.