Fifteen police personnel and a driver were killed after Maoists triggered an IED blast in the Kurkheda tehsil of the Naxalite-infested Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra on Wednesday.

The attack took place when a Quick Response Team (QRT) attached to the C-60 specialised commando unit was moving in a private van between Jambhorkheda and Lendhari villages.

Tension was brewing in the Kurkheda tehsil since Tuesday when Maoist cadres torched nearly 37 private vehicles, trucks, heavy vehicles and construction material on the Dadapur stretch along the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh highway. After the incident, police patrol and movement was enhanced. The police party was killed as it passed over the landmine.

Timeline | Major Naxal attacks in Maharashtra

Reports reaching Mumbai said that the incident took place between 12 noon and 12.30 pm when the vehicle was nearing a culvert. Villagers also heard gunfire after the blast. However, there is no independent confirmation.

Expressing shock over the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the sacrifice of brave soldiers would not be forgotten and the perpetrators of such violence would not be spared.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio, said it was a cowardly attack. “We will fight this menace with even more and stronger efforts,” he said.

He also spoke to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and briefed him of the situation.

The attack coincides with the Maharashtra Day (May 1).

No intelligence failure

Director General of Police Subodh Jaiswal denied that the attack was a result of intelligence failure, but said that the police were ready to give a reply. “It is a big loss... we are ready to give a befitting reply (to the Maoists),” he said. “I cannot call it an intelligence failure... we will take whatever action is needed,” he said.

Questions on basics, SOPs

Hours after the ghastly attack, questions were raised about the basics and SOPs (standard operating procedures) not being followed and the hiring of a private vehicle when tensions were mounting.

Minister of State for Home (Rural) Deepak Kesarkar said that it would be probed how the information on the route of the commando vehicle leaked out and also why the C-60 QRT was travelling in a private van.

“Why was a private vehicle hired? Was the driver familiar with the route? Was he aware of the basics of driving on such routes,” asked intelligence expert Shirish Inamdar, a former additional deputy commissioner of State Intelligence Department.

Generally, when a QRT moves, there has to be a road clearance party. “It needs to be known whether the superiors had taken care of the basics and SOPs,” he said.



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