Polls: Over 800 kgs of explosives; 100 IEDs recovered till now

New Delhi, April 21: Over 800 kg of explosives and 127 improvised bombs have been recovered by security forces from across Naxal violence-hit areas since the Election Commission sounded the poll bugle in the country on March 5.

The maximum of these killing traps and deadly ammunition, aimed at security forces and poll officials, have been recovered by the paramilitary CRPF from Left Wing Extremism affected areas of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Odisha.

According to an official report, a maximum of 61 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were recovered from Bihar, 33 from Jharkhand, 24 from Chhattigarh and nine from Odisha. The total number of these locally made recovered bombs, which also killed troopers, is 127.

750kgs of explosives was seized from Bihar, 53 kgs from Jharkhand, .5kg from Chhattisgarh and 3.8kgs from Odisha, taking the total to 806.92kgs during the period between March 5-April 20. During the same period, 10 IED explosions took place in Bihar, six in Jharkhand and 13 in Chhattisgarh.

The maximum casualty for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the lead anti-Naxal operations force and the largest security force deployed for polls, took place in the restive Bastar area of Chhattisgarh where 20 personnel were killed while 15 were injured in separate incidents.

Five CRPF men were also killed in Bihar while seven were injured in the same state during poll duties in the Maoist grid. A total of fifty-two arms were also recovered during the same period with Bihar (10), Jharkhand (21), Chhattisgarh (15), Odisha (5) and Maharashtra (1).

Similarly, a total of 452 rounds of ammunition was recovered by the paramilitary force from these states with the maximum being in Jharkhand (355), Bihar (47), Chhattisgarh (37) and Odisha (13).

PTI