Ten District Reserve Guard (DRG) personnel and a driver lost their lives when their vehicle was blown up by an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. The incident took place on Wednesday, March 26th, afternoon, on Aranpur Road in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district. The government has accused the ultra-left Communist Party of India (Maoist) [CPI(Maoist)] of conducting the blast.
It has been reported by government sources that the DRG personnel were killed when they were returning from an anti-Maoist operation in Dantewada to their headquarters. It has been alleged that a pressure bomb may have been used by the CPI(Maoist) in this blast. There are chances that the number of casualties may go up.
So far, the CPI(Maoist) has not claimed responsibility for the blast, however, it has been alleged that the banned outfit had threatened the central paramilitary troops stationed in the mineral-rich, tribal-majority province a few days earlier. The CPI(Maoist) took responsibility for similar strikes against the paramilitary forces in the state earlier, accusing them of helping big capitalists in acquiring tribal lands and forests.
Indian President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, and others have condemned the blast on the social media platform Twitter. Chhattisgarh has been experiencing a long-drawn civil war between the Indian government’s forces and the ultra-left CPI(Maoist), which has led to the death of several ultras, soldiers, and common people in the last two decades.