TOI Photo

RAIPUR: In one of the worst poll violence by Maoists, a BJP MLA from Chhattisgarh and four police personnel were killed in an IED explosion in Dantewada when they were returning in their bullet-proof SUV after electioneering on Tuesday, the last day of campaigning in the Bastar Lok Sabha seat that goes to the polls on Thursday.Dantewada BJP legislator Bhima Mandavi’s convoy of three vehicles was targeted around 4.45pm, some 4km from Kuakonda, DGP D M Awasthi told the media. Though Mandavi was travelling in a bulletproof car, Maoists knew exactly which vehicle in the convoy to target. The IED exploded just as Mandavi’s Scorpio passed over it, blowing it to pieces. The MLA was warned that the route was suspected to be heavily mined, but he was negligent, SP Abhishek Pallava said.While BJP accused Congress of scaling down security in Bastar, police said the MLA neglected warning.“A contingent of 50 DRG personnel from Dantewada had accompanied him on motorcycles to Netapur, Tannenar, Metapal and other places and finally to Dantewada BJP office around 1pm,” the DGP said, adding that the MLA then asked the DRG security in charge to return as his campaign had ended. After lunch, Mandavi went to Kirandul, from where he left for Bacheli.“The town inspector of Bacheli police station, Sheeladitya Singh, had informed the legislator that there was no road opening party (ROP) on the route and advised him against taking the Kuakonda road without adequate security. Mandavi was given 50 District Reserve Guard personnel during his campaign but he returned them, saying campaigning had come to a close,” the DGP said. He added that the inspector spoke to him for nearly two minutes, asking him not to take the route in the absence of an ROP, but Mandavi proceeded nonetheless.Police sources told TOI that the Odisha Balangir committee of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) is suspected to be involved in the attack. The attack came a day after Maoists circulated posters at various places in Bastar, asking voters not only to boycott the polls but also support banned Kashmiri militant group JKLF headed by Yasin Malik.The attack brought back chilling memories of the May 2013 Maoist ambush in Jheeram Ghati in which nearly the entire state Congress frontline leadership, including former Union minister V C Shukla and senior leaders Nand Kumar Patel and Mahendra Karma, was massacred in the run-up to the assembly elections.Mandavi, 40, was the lone BJP MLA from the Bastar region and had defeated Karma’s widow in last year’s assembly polls. BJP demanded postponement of voting following the assassination, but Chhattisgarh chief electoral officer (CEO) Subrat Sahoo said polls will be held on schedule and added that security preparedness for smooth conduct of polling will be reviewed. After the IED blast, security personnel travelling in other vehicles opened fire, forcing the Maoists to retreat, the DGP said, adding that there were reports that around 20 to 25 Maoists were present in the area.The policemen killed in the blast were identified as Danteshwar Mourya, Chaggan Kuldeep, Ramlal Oyami and R Somdu Kawasi.During electioneering, the standard operating procedure is that candidates and other party leaders have to give their travel plans to police in advance so that security can be arranged. It is not immediately known if Mandavi had informed police about his movement through the troubled Kuakonda area.“I am shocked and disturbed. I have no words to express my grief,” said CM Bhupesh Baghel, adding, “This is one of the biggest and most condemnable attack on democracy after the May 2013 Jheeram valley massacre.”During the last week, Maoists unleashed three attacks in Bastar, killing nine security personnel and injuring as many. After the new Congress government came to power, Maoists lay low for the first three months and stepped up violence after declaration of Lok Sabha elections.