Two STF personnel injured in IED blast during anti-Naxal operation in Chhattisgarh

Bijapur | Two personnel of the Special Task Force (STF) were injured after an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by Naxalites went off in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, where a massive operation against ultras has been underway for two weeks, police said on Monday.

The operation, ' Mission Sankalp', involving about 24,000 security personnel on sprawling hills of Karregutta and adjoining hills along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border, was launched on April 21 to track down hardcore Naxalites.

Two STF jawans sustained minor injuries in the blast on Sunday, an official said.

He said, "The injured jawans were administered treatment at a local hospital and were later referred to a higher centre." With this, six security personnel, including one belonging to CRPF, have been injured in IED blasts during the operation, the official said.

The operation, one of the biggest counter-insurgency actions launched in the Bastar region, involves personnel of different units, including the District Reserve Guard, Bastar Fighters and STF of the Chhattisgarh police, the Central Reserve Police Force and its elite Commando Battalions for Resolute Action (CoBRA).

The operation is underway on the inaccessible terrain and dense forest spread across 800 sq km on both sides of the interstate border Bijapur (Chhattisgarh) and Mulugu and Bhadradri-Kothagudem (Telangana), over 450 km away from Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur.

"The operation has reached its climax, and so far, around 75 per cent of the area has been cordoned off and demined. The final phase of the operation is likely to conclude by the end of this week," a senior official monitoring the operation told PTI.

He said, "The outcome of an anti-Naxal operation is not only determined by the number of Naxalites killed or weapons recovered. Clearing the area from the captivity of the banned Maoist outfit and making the land safe again for the native population is also an important objective of the operation." On April 24, three women Naxalites were killed on Karregutta hills, and a huge cache of weapons, explosives and other materials was recovered during the operation.

The official said the area, which is surrounded by dense forests and a range of hills, is considered the safe hideout of Maoists' PLGA (people's liberation guerilla army) battalion No. 1, the strongest military formation of Maoists.

He said the inputs suggested more than 500 Naxalites belonging to PLGA battalion No. 1, Telangana state committee and Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) of Maoists led by their hardcore and dreaded leaders, including Central Committee Members Chandrana, Ramachandra Reddy, Sujatha and Hidma, PLGA battalion commander Barse Deva, had gathered for a meeting and were holed up in the area.