Ejaz Kaiser By

Express News Service

RAIPUR: Five days ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit to Bijapur in Chhattisgarh, the Maoists blew up a bus with security personnel on the Tumnar-Kuwenar route, killing two and injuring six others on Monday.

Some months ago, the Maoists had set ablaze a passenger bus on the same road.

On March 13, the Red cadres blew up a Mine Protected Vehicle (MPV) killing nine CRPF men at Kistaram in Sukma district.

At Bijapur, about 350 km south of Raipur, the Maoists had planted explosives near a culvert beneath the concrete top road. A small action team of the Maoists are believed to have detonated the blast. The bus carrying 30 District Reserve Guards (DRG) was on its way to the Bijapur district headquarters from Kutru after carrying out a search operation in the remote region.

The blast site is about 50 km away from the place where PM Narendra Modi will launch the mega health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat Yojana or Modicare, and also participate in other events on April 14.

“Two DRG personnel were killed. Reinforcements were rushed to the area and the search operations intensified. The Maoists are desperately trying to get their presence felt ahead of the PM’s visit. We already anticipated their modus operandi since the operations have been consistently going on in these areas,” Superintendent of Police, State Intelligence Branch, D Ravishankar said.

The Maoists have been carrying out small blasts and intermittent firing at different places in the district since Sunday. They had pasted pamphlets in interior areas to protest Modi’s visit.

Despite the security forces on high alert in the region, the Maoists inflicted casualties on the troopers.

Police defuse two mines in Gadchiroli

MUMBAI: A major Maoist attack was averted when the Gadchiroli police successfully defused two landmines at Murumgaon in Maharashtra’s Dhanora tehsil on Monday morning. The police and the Panchayat Samiti Chairman were on the Maoist target, the police have said.

Children playing near a tube well at Murumgaon found a cable which appeared as if it was buried in the ground. Later, they informed the villagers who in turn alerted the police.

The cable was found buried near the residence of Panchayat Samiti Chairman Ajman Raote and a few members of the special police task force C-60. A police help centre was in the vicinity.