EXC: Protocol oversight responsible for Dantewada attack

Sources said three protocols laid out for such high-risk anti-Naxal operations were ignored during Wednesday’s operation in Dantewada.

| Updated: 27 April, 2023 11:08 am IST

The blast was so powerful that it created a crater on the road and tore off the MUV.

New Delhi: Investigators focus on three possible protocol lapses during an anti-Naxal operation which ended in the tragic killing of 10 cops and a driver in a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada on Wednesday.

Ten personnel of District Reserve Guard (DRG) and their civilian driver were killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) tore off their multi utility vehicle (MUV) in Aranpur area of Dantewada district, around 450 km from the state capital Raipur.

Sources privy to the development have told The New Indian that three protocols laid out for such complex and high-risk anti-Naxal operations were ignored while conducting a search operation in the heavily forested area.

The lapses, the sources said, relate to use of vehicles for transportation, road opening and sanitization, and the selection of routes.

Sources said that Toofan MUV used by the DRG search party is not recommended for operations in areas like Aranpur, Sameli, and Pedka in Dantewada that are highly dangerous because of their dense forests. Two-wheelers could have been used instead, which are better for such terrain, they added. “Two wheelers are suitable for troop movement in such areas because Naxals don’t detonate landmines for a bike because of the low stakes,” a source said.

*DRG’s vehicle was tore apart was the powerful IED explosion.*

The second focus area of the investigation relates to the route taken by the personnel of the DRG, a police unit raised to combat Naxalism. The agencies are trying to establish whether the cops used the same route while returning, which they used while going for the search operation. If they had avoided the same route, the attack could have been avoided, said sources.

As per standard operating procedure, whenever such movement of security personnel happens, a small vehicle checks the route for possible landmines or ambush traps before the main vehicle passes through the stretch. In Wednesday’s case, however, no road opening and sanitization party was engaged, said sources.

However, senior police officials remained tight-lipped on the matter, citing sensitivity of operational details. Dantewada superintendent of police (SP) Sidhartha Tiwari declined to reveal operational details when questioned about the vehicles and routes.

*Bodies of victims were tore into pieces by the explosion.*

“I cannot comment on such matters as these are operational details,” Tiwari told The New Indian over phone.

The explosion was so intense that the Toofan vehicle was tossed in the air before being blown up into pieces, according to eyewitnesses. The road where the IED was planted was constructed recently under the watch of security personnel. A local resident stated that during the road construction, Naxalites often hide bombs or IEDs under the road, making the area more vulnerable.

A senior officer said that the protocols should be given top priority while conducting any search operation in Naxal-affected jungles. “As the area was so sensitive, the protocols should have been in the mind of that area commander and patrolling team,” he added.

PM Narendra Modi was among a host of politicians and celebrities to condemn the cowardly attack, with chief minister Bhupesh Baghel maintaining that the battle against Naxals was in “the last stage”.