Out in the Maoist-infested Mohla-Manpur assembly constituency, a part of Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha constituency of Chhattisgarh that went to polls on Thursday, THE WEEK personally witnessed as to how Maoists attempted to terrorise the voters by carrying out an IED blast but squarely failed.
The assembly constituency recorded 70 per cent polling by 3.00 pm when the polling ended in the area. Voters in a polling booth close to the blast site were casting votes as usual, foiling the attempt of the Naxals.
Overall three constituencies of Chhattisgarh (Rajnandgaon, Mahasamund and Kanker) registered 59.67 per cent polling by 3.00pm and the situation was reported to be largely peaceful.
It was a pure chance that THE WEEK correspondent was close to the area where the only seemingly violent activity was carried out by the Naxals.
We were passing through eerily silent forest stretch in Mohla-Manpur locality of Rajnandgaon district (and Lok Sabha constituency) talking about the Naxal activities on the polling day when we received a message that the Maoists had carried out an IED blast a few kilometres away.
The driver of my vehicle, a young man from Raipur, clearly developed cold feet when he understood that we (me and two local reporters) intended to rush to the spot. We managed to convince him, promising to leave the vehicle with him at a safe distance and he agreed to drive us to a deserted stretch between villages Dhabba and Medha, about 8 km from Manpur (180km from Raipur).
A security officer inspects the blast site | Sravani Sarkar
On a recently tarred road, the charred remains of a pressure cooker, a battery, some wires and metallic implements and the remains a petrol can were starkly visible. Close by, a ditch left on the road by the blast was also clear and personnel of the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) personnel were busy combing the nearby forests for other evidences and probably other bombs.
Here we were right on the spot of a combined pressure cooker and petrol bomb blast carried out by Maoists. Jagdish, an ITBP jawan who is part of an entire company posted in the area on election duty, told THE WEEK that about half a dozen of the security personnel were patrolling the area when the blast took place around 11.00am, but fortunately only one jawan received a shrapnel injury.
In-charge of the BDS, D.R. Rana, told THE WEEK that the 10kg pressure cooker bomb and accompanying petrol bomb had the capacity to cause much more damage than it had. “The cooker is still hot so we are yet to open it. Normally such devices throw out a lot of shrapnel and cause much more injuries. The jawans were fortunate to be at a safe distance.”
Superintendent of police of Rajnandgaon Kamlochan Kashyap told a section of media that the IED blast was aimed at terrorising voters but did not cause any damage. He said that the voting was largely peaceful in the area and enough security arrangements had been made.
Just about a km away, at a government school in village Dhabba, voters continued to arrive intermittently even after the blast. Surjyoti Tulam, mother of a two-year-old child, said this was the first time that any violent activity was reported so close to their village. “But we are not afraid. We know that if we want development, we have to vote.”
Dharija Kavse, a 50-year-old villager, pedaled on a bicycle through the blast area to cast his vote. “I got to know something had happened. But I wanted to vote, so I came,” he said.
Two Maoists gunned down in Bastar
Meanwhile, two Maoists, allegedly involved in the April 9 killing of BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi were killed in an encounter with Dantewada police in the Bastar region in the early hours of Thursday. Another injured person, allegedly a Maoist, was arrested by security forces.
The slain and injured naxals are said to be from Malangir area committee of CPI (Maoist ). Special director general of police ( Anti-Naxal operations) Girdhari Nayak told media that the slain ultras were identified as Vargese and Linga who were involved in killing of MLA Mandavi and his four security men ahead of polling in Bastar seat.
The 30-minute encounter took place inside the forest near Daulikarka village around 5.30 am. Later bodies of two Maoists and a .315 bore gun were recovered from the spot, the special DG said, adding that an injured Maoist was also arrested from the spot.
As per intelligence reports, the attack on MLA Mandavi was carried out by Vinod Hunga, 55, and his team in the jungles of Dantewada. On April 12, the Darbha special zonal committee of CPI (Maoist) had claimed responsibility of killing the BJP legislator and four police personnel. The statement was issued in the name of secretary of Darbha division committee, Sainath—dated April 11.
