It’s not only the terrorists in Kashmir and other parts of the country, but also Maoists and ultras in Jharkhand who use the Improvised Explosive Devices on a large scale posing a grave threat to the security personnel, police officials said.

As per police records, since January, security forces have seized 40 IED’s in 13 Maoist incidents across the state. The forces have conducted 10 encounters killing 8 Maoists. 19.5 kg gelatin and explosives along with 28 detonators besides 1,474 cartridges and 24 country-made guns have been also seized.

The reason for the use of IED’s was because the explosives could be made into bombs of any shape, including household items like pots, buckets and pressure-cookers, said Vipul Shukla, DIG Palamu range “An IED can as well be an innocuous item, which is made into a bomb. Hence, the name ‘improvised’. The bomb is exploded through a detonator resulting in mass causalities,” he said.

The DIG said that though smaller IED’s were not as lethal vis-a-vis grenades and other small bombs, the larger ones were dangerous. “IED’s can be made more powerful by increasing the amount of the chemicals, including gun powder. Among conventional weapons in modern warfare, a bomb of 5kg to 10kg is not available. So the Maoists use IED’s to inflict greater damage,” he said.

However, security forces taking part in anti-Maoist operations were well trained, and took every possible precaution to prevent IED explosions, various CRPF and police officials underlined. CRPF IG Sanjay A Lathkar said that the route used for routine movement of troops was scanned for IED’s.

“As far as possible, operations/movements are conducted in areas only after scanning for explosives. During operations also, the forces keep a vigil for IED’s. In case there is information, or suspicion of IED’s the bombs are identified and diffused,” he said.

Citing the incident at Lohardaga on January 16, where two civilians suffered grievous injuries in an IED blast triggered by Maoists, Lathkar appealed to people to immediately inform police if they saw any suspicious objects.

But, the hidden IED’s, generally drilled on the road or on the pathways posed a serious risk, said Ashwini Kumar, superintendent of police, Gumla. The SP, who has been part of several encounters and search operation across districts, said that he had seen IED’s weighing up to 25 kgs, which were capable of massive explosions.

“Such explosions by IED’s can rip apart the body. Three things regarding IED’s makes it lethal. The pressure or vaccum during the blast, the crude splinters/sharpnels which act like small missiles and the impact of the explosion itself. Even the small stones kept to tightly secure the IED’s lid act as dangerous projectiles, piercing even metal surfaces of vehicles,” he said.

The IED’s used batteries in its electrical circuit, which could be activated through a remote detonator. In some cases accidental pressing of the IED completed the charge within the circuit resulting in an explosion.

Kumar said that the IED’s were first used in unified Bihar/Jharkhand by People’s War Group, a left wing extremist group. The group merged with CPI (Maoist) in 2004, and passed on its knowledge of IED’s to the Maoists.

Major Incidents

February 14, 2019: Maoist conduct IED blast at Sonua Village in Chaibasa district during operations by security forces. Later forces destroy the Maoist camp

February 3: Encounter against Maoists at Chippadohar in Latehar district. Large cache of IED’s and explosives seized.

January 29, 2019: Encounter against cadres of people’s liberation front of India, a Maoist faction at Khunti district. Large cache of explosives, IED’s and an AK-47 rifle seized.

January 16, 2019 : Two people grievously injured after accidently stepping on an IED device at Lohardaga district

First Published: Feb 19, 2019 15:13 IST