THE PRICE OF COMPLACENCY

After a gap of almost four years, a major Maoist attack took place in Dantewada in South Chhattisgarh, where left-wing extremists triggered an improvised explosive device (IED) on April 26, killing 10 security personnel and their civilian driver.

- Rahul Noronha

While bigger and deadlier incidents have rocked Chhattisgarh in the past, the April 26 incident corresponded with claims by the security establishment-perhaps resulting from a lull in violence-that Maoism was its last legs in the state.

What really happened on April 26? From their Dantewada district headquarters, a party of District Reserve Guard (DRG)-a state force raised for anti-Maoist operations-and Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) personnel left for Aranpur in the intervening night of April 25 and 26 after receiving specific inputs on Maoist presence. Around 6.30 a.m., an engagement took place between Maoists and security forces at Aranpur. Two Maoist Jan Militia (part-time workers of the outlawed CPIMaoist) members-Lakhma Kawasi and Kosa Madvi, both residents of Sukma district-were arrested. Madvi was injured. They were being taken back by security forces to Dantewada for arrest formalities and treatment in a pick-up truck, which was leading the three-vehicle convoy, when an IED exploded, completely destroying the vehicle in the middle and killing all 11 people on board. There were numerous road blocks set up en route by locals, mostly children, to demand donations for aama pandum, a tribal agriculture festival. The road blocks slowed down the convoy and their role in the tragic incident cannot be ruled out.