The killing of 10 jawans in a landmine blast in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district recently comes as yet another grim reminder of the lethal capability of the Maoists to strike at will, despite a steady erosion of their support base and disillusionment among the cadre. A more distressing aspect of the attack was that the district reserve guard (DRG) personnel were lured into a trap, virtually making them sitting ducks. About 50 kgs of explosives were believed to have been planted five-six feet below the road, making it difficult to spot. A command improvised explosive device (IED) appears to have been used, which means that a Maoist cadre was keeping an eye on the road from a distance and triggered the blast when the vehicle approached.
This is the biggest attack carried out by Maoists on the security forces in the state in the last two years. Twenty-two security personnel were killed in 2021 in an ambush along the border of Sukma and Bijapur districts. The latest attack exposed the chinks in the security apparatus and a shocking failure to follow a well-established security protocol in a region notorious for such strikes in the past. Unlike other vulnerable states, Chhattisgarh has been slow to raise a local anti-Maoist force, which is considered key in the fight against left-wing extremism. The timing of the attack fits into a familiar pattern of the Maoist strategy of heightened military activity and more attacks on security forces every summer. Though there has been an overall decline in the Maoist attacks across the country in recent times, Chhattisgarh continues to be the epicentre of left-wing extremism.