Dantewada blast: Chhattisgarh Police detains 8 suspected Maoists, including minor
In a significant development, the Chattisgarh Police detained eight more Maoists, including a minor boy, in the Dantewada blast case, PTI reported. The total number of Maoists arrested in the case has now risen to 17. Notably, 10 District Reserve Guard (DRG) personnel and a civilian driver were killed after Maoists reportedly triggered an improvised explosive device (IED) in Aranpur, Dantewada, on April 26.
Why does this story matter?
The major development comes days after the police launched a massive manhunt to nab accused Maoists in the blast that killed 10 security personnel and a driver in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada. Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P had reportedly said the blast took place near Dantewada's Aranpur Police Station area while a team of the police's DRG was returning from an anti-Maoist operation.
What did Chhattisgarh Police say?
According to the Chhattisgarh Police, five of the eight alleged Maoists were arrested on Wednesday (May 17), while the remaining three, including the minor, were caught on Friday (May 19). The arrests on Friday were made during search operations in the Aranpur Police Station area and surrounding areas. Following that, the police also provided information regarding the latest developments and total arrests made.
7 Maoists get judicial custody; minor sent to juvenile home
A local court reportedly sent five accused Maoists to police remand for three days in the blast case on Wednesday. They were brought before the court again on Friday after their police remand expired, along with two others (who were arrested on Friday), and all seven were remanded to judicial custody, reported PTI. Meanwhile, the minor was reportedly sent to a juvenile home.
What do we know about blast incident?
On April 26, an IED blast in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada area killed at least 10 DRG troops and their civilian driver. The incident reportedly took place at 1:30pm on the Aranpur road, nearly 400 kilometers from Raipur, the state capital. The event drew sharp condemnations from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, among others.
'Foxhole mechanism' employed by Maoists to carry out blast: Police
The Maoists had reportedly planted the IED beneath the road through a "foxhole mechanism," a style of digging a tunnel and making the explosive undetectable, the police investigation revealed. The police also claimed that the IED was planted around a month-and-a-half ago before the blast by digging a tunnel roadside, while the wire linked to it was buried about 2-3 inches into the ground.
Intelligence agencies flagged threat letter by Maoists
A day after the blast, reports claimed that intelligence agencies had flagged a March letter from Maoists in Chhattisgarh threatening to attack security forces as retaliation for the ongoing anti-Naxal operations. The central intelligence services had allegedly informed the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the state police that Maoists were plotting IED ambushes/strikes against military personnel in Bijapur, Sukma, and Dantewada districts.
