Maoists fleeing crackdown by forces, leave behind many unexploded IEDs

OVERALL THE FORCES IN 2021, 2022, 2023 AND 2024 RECOVERED 163, 128, 242 AND 260 IEDS

- Prawesh Lama

NEW DELHI: While the aggressive campaign to weed out Maoists from the jungles of Chhattisgarh has helped security forces gain control of Maoist bastions, the development has come at the cost of the extremists planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) across the region before fleeing.

Data accessed by HT showed that in the first three months of the year, forces have recovered 155 IEDs—a figure significantly higher than 38 and 35 in the same period in 2023 and 2024.

"Last year, the highest number of IEDs at 260 were recovered throughout the year. The number this year is already higher than the recovery in 2021 and 2022. We expect the number to reach a record high this year," an official aware of the matter said, requesting anonymity.

With teams of state police and central paramilitary forces conducting extensive operations in Maoist strongholds, in line with the government's proposed deadline to end left-wing extremism (LWE) in the country by March 31, 2026, the recovery of IEDs weighing anywhere between 1kg to 45kg has become a major challenge.