Raipur/Bijapur, Feb 12 (IANS) Security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Thursday carried out anti-Maoist operations during which they detected and destroyed improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and demolished memorial structures allegedly built by Maoists to honour their deceased leaders.
In one operation, a joint team from the Awapalli police station and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) battalions was engaged in demining duty along the Awapalli-Murdanda road. Around three kilometres from Murdanda Camp, the bomb detection and disposal squad located an approximately 30 kg IED allegedly planted by Maoists in a foxhole dug nearly five feet inside and two feet below the main road surface.
According to police officials, the device was fitted with a switch mechanism intended to target large vehicles. Owing to its deep placement, safe removal was not feasible, and the IED was destroyed in situ as a precautionary measure.
The controlled detonation created a crater on the road, which was subsequently filled to restore vehicular movement. Officials said the timely detection averted a potential major attack.
In a separate operation, during demining activities by CRPF battalions in the forward operating base (FOB) Doditumnar area under Gangaloore police station limits, a 5 kg pressure IED allegedly planted by Maoists was detected and destroyed on the spot.
Meanwhile, during an anti-Maoist operation conducted by a CoBRA battalion under Kutru police station jurisdiction, security personnel identified and demolished a memorial erected by Maoists on the banks of the Indravati river in the Maad area.
The structure commemorated Basavaraju (real name Nambala Keshava Rao), the former general secretary of the banned CPI (Maoist), who was killed along with 26 others in an encounter in Abujhmad in May 2025.
Basavaraju, described by security agencies as an engineer by training and an expert in guerrilla tactics and IED fabrication, had been a prominent figure in the Maoist insurgency for several decades.
In a related development, during search and area domination patrols in the forested stretches of Todka-Korcholi and Peddakorma under Gangaloore police station limits, a CRPF battalion team demolished additional Maoist memorial structures.
Officials said the operations form part of a broader effort to dismantle the operational and symbolic presence of the Maoist organisation in the region. By removing such structures, security forces aim to curb Maoist propaganda and discourage attempts to project influence among local communities.
The actions are part of ongoing efforts to restore normalcy in the Bastar division amid the government’s stated objective of eradicating Left-wing extremism.
–IANS
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