Two powerful Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) planted by Naxals under a road were recovered in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, police said. A major tragedy was averted as the bombs were detected in time, said an official here.
The two devices were found under the Awapalli-Basaguda road when a team of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was out on a search operation. The IED which claimed the lives of 11 persons in neighbouring Dantewada district in April had been planted by using the same foxhole mechanism, the police official said.
Personnel of the CRPF's 168th and 222nd battalions were involved in the operation on Wednesday, he said. The IEDs, placed in plastic containers, were planted five feet beneath the road by digging an eight-feet high and eight-feet wide tunnel from the roadside. They were successfully neutralised by a Bomb Disposal Squad.
On April 26, ten personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard of police and a civilian driver were killed after Naxals blew up the vehicle in which they were travelling as part of a convoy in Dantewada district.