Another IED recovered at Sukma blast site where ASP Giripunje was killed: Sukma Police
Sukma (Chhattisgarh) [India], June 10 (ANI): An improvised explosive device (IED) was recovered from the same site in Sukma, Chhattisgarh, where Additional SP Akash Rao Giripunje was killed in a Naxal-triggered blast. The Bomb Disposal Squad destroyed the device on the spot, Sukma police informed on Monday.
Earlier, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai condemned the IED blast in Sukma district in which Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Akash Rao Giripunje had succumbed to his injuries. CM Sai said that his sacrifice would not go in vain.
Chhattisgarh CM Sai paid tribute to ASP Akash Rao Giripunje, stating that the Naxals were carrying out such acts as they had been rattled. He assured that the officer's sacrifice would not go in vain and added that the Naxals were taking their last breath and acting out of frustration. He condemned the incident and hoped that the bereaved family would find the strength to bear the loss. He also said the injured would be shifted to Raipur for the best possible medical treatment.
Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao said the state government was concerned about properly treating those injured.
An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast occurred near Dondra on the Konta-Errabora road, in which ASP of Konta Division, Sukma district, Akash Rao Giripunje, sustained serious injuries. Several other officers and jawans were also injured in the blast.
'In a pressure IED blast near Dondra on the Konta-Errabora road, ASP Konta Division, District Sukma, Akash Rao Giripunje sustained serious injuries. Some other officers and jawans were also injured in the pressure IED blast,' IG Sundarraj said in his statement.
According to the IG, ASP Giripunje had been on foot patrol duty to prevent any Naxalite incident, given the Bharat Bandh called by the CPI (M) on June 10. IG Sundarraj also stated that all the injured were treated at Konta Hospital. (ANI)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
21 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
In Maoist battle, a 6,000-strong force makes the difference
New Delhi : In August 2005, Basant K Ponwar moved from Mizoram to Chhattisgarh. At the time, Maoists had at least 106 districts in central and eastern India in their grip and were steadily expanding their menacing presence, prompting then prime minister Manmohan Singh in 2006 to call left-wing extremism (LWE) as the country's greatest internal security threat. The government's fight against the rebels was flailing, largely because Maoists were trained in jungle warfare and were picking up young boys and girls from villages to train them as child soldiers. In response, the government's bloated forces were unmotivated and unfamiliar with the forested terrain of southern Chhattisgarh. Growing frustration led to misadventures such as the Salwa Judum, a vigilante force that aimed to push back Maoists but ended up pillaging villages and torturing tribespeople, before being disbanded by the Supreme Court in 2011. The retired brigadier Ponwar, then the head of the army's Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School in Mizoram, took a different approach. The 1971 Indo-Pak war veteran brought his team and set up the elite Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School in Kanker, about 60km from Raipur. 'To fight in the jungle, you must live in the jungle. Make the jungle your friend. Police had to be reoriented in counter-Naxal operations through a rigorous 45-day programme,' Ponwar told HT. From this initiative was born Chhattisgarh's unique District Reserve Guard (DRG) force in 2007-08, that is at the core of the government's aggressive move to wipe out the decades-old insurgency by next spring. Since 2024, the 6,000-strong force, populated largely by tribal people and former Maoists, has pushed deeper into the Maoist heartland and made inroads into territories considered too hostile even five years ago. 'The locals, who knew the jungle, were formally inducted into the system and further trained in counter-insurgency. Over the years, the recruitment among Naxals also decreased because the local tribal youth would rather join the police,' added Ponwar. Today, DRG personnel are spread across seven Maoism-affected districts in Chhattisgarh, not tasked with regular law-and-order duties, focusing only on guerilla warfare suitable in the dense forests of Abujhmad. The force is involved in almost every key encounter, navigating IEDs, ramming through Maoist ambushes, engaging in gunfights, and guiding other security forces in jungles. This includes the takeover of the key Maoist base at Karregutta hills, a place where forces had never entered before, and the recent killing of top Maoist leader Nambala Keshav Rao or Basavaraju last month. 'DRG jawans are locals, who know the area and the terrain. Their training ensures that they can work in the toughest conditions. You need such brave local jawans, who are guerilla fighters. There is also a trust factor involved here. Locals trust the DRG personnel,' said Inspector General (Bastar Range) P Sundarraj, one of the first students at the institution. Ahead of the Centre's proposed deadline to end Maoism by March 31, 2026, the National Security Guard's black cat commandos are also conducting joint exercises with the DRG jawans. To understand why DRG was set up, go back to 2006-07. Retired bureaucrat Shivraj Singh, who was Chhattisgarh's chief secretary between 2007 and 2008, said the unit was first mooted after the Centre realised the gravity of left-wing extremism (LWE). 'The Maoist movement had spread throughout Chhattisgarh in the early 2000s. At that time, Maoists functioned like a Spartan Army by taking children and moulding them as soldiers. Local tribespeople were also fed up and approached the police with complaints about the abductions and how Maoists terrorised their village. Police were not adequately trained then as they were largely focused on guarding their posts. I remember then National Security Adviser MK Narayanan constantly telling the Centre how grave the problem had become,' he said. Singh said in meetings between the state and the home ministry, the government decided to build a specialised unit for guerilla warfare against Maoists. 'It started with the police identifying young constables who were residents of Maoist areas, and training them to be part of DRG. These young police officers knew the forest and were well-versed in the topography,' he added. Residents from LWE violence-affected districts are first recruited as constables. Those who show skills in guerilla warfare are handpicked to be in DRG and sent for rigorous training. To underscore their effectiveness, the Chhattisgarh government is now set to approve a proposal to induct around 3,000 more DRG personnel, marking the biggest recruitment in recent years of local tribal men and surrendered Maoists. The state government is also working to make the unit more lucrative by creating a new post of deputy superintendent so that its personnel do not remain stagnant at the inspector level, a senior Chhattisgarh home department official said, asking not to be named. Data on anti-Maoist operations seen by HT showed that between December 1, 2023, and May 20, 2025, at least 401 Maoists were killed in 199 gunfights and 1,355 rebels surrendered. Thirty-seven DRG jawans also died in the attacks. But gun battles are not the most important role of DRG. That would be guiding the forces into the Abhujmad, a 5,000 sq km expanse of uncharted forest spread across Chhattisgarh's four Maoism-affected districts. It is inside this swath of vast uncharted territory where top Maoist leaders traditionally reside, and where the fiercest battles have broken out over the past two years. DRG jawans, born and brought up in the villages within the forest, are the perfect guides to lead the forces inside, said a senior police officer, also requesting anonymity. Anant Ram, a DRG sub-inspector who joined the unit as a constable in 2009, said, 'Intelligence gathering is better when locals are part of the force. The residents are with us.' Another jawan, Binod Kumar, who joined DRG in 2018, said, 'I volunteered to be part of the DRG and was sent to counter-insurgency school. Before that, I had only done regular basic training. Now in DRG, I am proud to be part of a movement.' In the May 21 encounter where Basavaraju was killed, for example, it was the DRG men who broke three layers of his security cordon and killed him in a gunfight, said an additional SP rank officer, who asked not to be named. 'In that operation, around 1,500 DRG from four districts of Sukma, Dantewada, Bijapur and Narayanpur were involved. The only photograph of Basavaraju we had was over 30 years old as he was never arrested. Some DRG jawans, who were surrendered Maoists and had seen Basavaraju, confirmed his identity. DRG jawans not only knew the area but some of the surrendered Maoists were trained by rebels, so they know the antidote to ambush tactics,' said the officer involved in the operation. Chhattisgarh Police's additional director general, Vivekanand Sinha, said the role of locals in fighting is critical to counter any insurgency. 'DRG jawans are trained in guerilla warfare. They know how and where to move in the jungle. They know the modus operandi of the Maoists whether it is about improvised explosive devices planted everywhere or laying an ambush. When such jawans trained in guerilla warfare work in conjunction with the security forces, it is a formidable combination,' he said. Despite DRG's successes, concerns linger. The biggest among them is the memory of the Salwa Judum. Formed in 2005, Salwa Judum (or peace march in Gondi) was a state-sponsored vigilante force that comprised local tribesmen and former Maoists who were trained by police and given weapons to take part in counter-insurgency operations. But the force displaced large numbers of villagers and killed several people as part of extra judicial operations, accusing the victims of being Maoist collaborators. In July 2011, the Supreme Court declared the militia to be illegal and unconstitutional, and ordered its disbanding. Congress leader Mahendra Karma played a key role in organising the militia. He was killed in an ambush by Maoists in May 2013 along with 27 others, including then state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and former minister Vidya Charan Shukla. 'This is just another armed force. You have just armed them and given them impunity,' said activist Bela Bhatia. But senior police officials underline that DRG is different. Unlike Salwa Judum, where locals were armed and trained by the state, DRG is a specialised unit of the state police. DRG jawans do not conduct operations independently and work directly under the district SP. 'Surrendered Maoists would be about 10% of the force. Salwa Judum was a vigilante group, DRG jawans are not. Surrendered militants go through a rigorous process of first working as gopniya sainiks (secret soldiers) with the police for several months. Based on their performance as informers, they are then trained and inducted as constables. DRG is also successful because Maoists are fighting the same people they had once trained,' a second officer said. Maoists fear DRG jawans, but the latter are also obvious targets. The first casualty in the encounter that killed Basavaraju was also DRG jawan Khotluram Korram. Another jawan, Ramesh Hemla died in an IED blast the following day. The battle is only going to get tougher. Ten months ahead of the March 31, 2026 deadline, there are still around 350 armed Maoist cadres who have refused to surrender. Young commanders such as Hidma and Barse Deva, are expected to put up a stiff fight. To prepare for this, the state government has started shifting DRG personnel in their mid to late 40s to police stations. The unit requires men with young blood, who can trek for 2-3 days in jungles, prepare their own meals, live there, engage in gunfights, and trek back to their base through the same route. This is life in DRG. 'Maoism will soon be a thing of the past. The state may not need so many DRG personnel in the coming years so the older ones are now being shifted to police stations. This is to ensure a smooth transition,' said a DRG person, who asked not to be named. The young jawan looks forward to a day when Chhattisgarh is no longer a red corridor. 'All of us are local tribespeople who have suffered. Our friends, and relatives were abducted by Maoists in the prime of their youth and forced into a life they did not choose. Not just that, we have seen our friends blown to pieces by IEDs planted by Maoists,' he said. For now, he has a job to do and it is personal. 'We have lost too many in this fight. We need to fight for them too,' he said.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
‘More AC trains in Mumbai without increase in fares'
Mumbai: More AC trains will be introduced on Mumbai's suburban railway network without increasing fares, said CM Devendra Fadnavis in the aftermath of the CR accident in Mumbra. At a presser on Tuesday, Fadnavis said he had a 45-minute interaction with Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on the need to further improve the suburban train system. Admitting there is a load on the suburban network, Fadnavis said, "This is going to be there till all metro lines are completed." He said in 11 years, the Modi govt has invested in a big way in railway infrastructure, whether it is passenger amenities, new signalling systems, widening of platforms or laying railway lines. However, it is true that during peak hours, carrying capacity is inadequate and needs to be further strengthened, he said. "Our railway minister has said existing trains will be retrofitted so doors close, as such instances are more because doors do not close. Yesterday's accident was unfortunate. The railway minister told me additional trains will be introduced on suburban routes with more AC trains. If automatic doors are installed (in non-AC trains), govt will take care of ventilation. AC trains will be introduced without increasing fares," he said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Consigue audifonos de alta calidad sin gastar ni un solo centavo Top Audifonos Undo On BMC elections Fadnavis said, "Who will form an alliance with whom, one cannot tell now. One thing is clear: Mumbaikars will stand with Mahayuti, and it will win BMC elections. Mumbai's mayor will be from Mahayuti." On BEST The CM said, "Under no circumstances will BEST be shut. We will strengthen it. BEST has placed an order for 5,000 new buses. Once these are delivered, BEST will function more efficiently. We have drafted the UMTA (Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority) law, whereby we will bring all public transport under one umbrella. Today we launched the common card, and the trial is on, which is successful. If BEST is not strengthened, neither the metros nor suburban railway can work efficiently. " On ending Naxalism "Highly effective work has been done under the Modi govt on ending the Naxal movement. Union home minister Amit Shah has promised to end Naxalism by March 2026. Active Naxalism will be ended. In 10 years, good work has been done in Maharashtra against Naxals and Maoists, but five years of Congress govt in Chhattisgarh led to an increase in Naxal recruits. Since BJP govt was formed in Chhattisgarh, both govts are working jointly against Naxalism," he said. On Dharavi Fadnavis said the people of Dharavi support the redevelopment project and have even taken out a morcha in support of the project. "Merely because four Congress leaders take out a morcha does not mean people are opposed to it. This is the country's biggest urban transformation project. All eligible residents will get a house in Dharavi, and all eligible business establishments will be rehabilitated in Dharavi. Those ineligible will also get housing. No one will be left out. In fact, 8-10 lakh people will get housing. It is the world's biggest urban transformation project. Some do not want the poor to be pulled out of poverty. Congress has been doing this kind of politics," he said. TNN
India Gazette
4 hours ago
- India Gazette
"US constantly bullying India in name of trade, Modi government is silent": Congress' Supriya Shrinate
New Delhi [India], June 10 (ANI): Congress leader Supriya Shrinate on Tuesday said the Donald Trump administration is constantly 'bullying' India in the name of trade, adding that the Modi government is silent against the threats being made by the United States. Speaking to ANI, Shrinate also pointed out that Indian students are facing issues with the admission procedure in the US, highlighting that a huge visa backlog has been created. 'Our students' visas are not being processed, a backlog is being created. The reality is that the admissions of our students are being cancelled. Another reality is that 682 Indians were deported to India, handcuffed, in military planes by America. The reality is that Donald Trump has taken credit for the ceasefire 12 times. Again and again, he says that he threatened India in the name of trade. I feel that the United States is constantly bullying and insulting us, and the Modi government is silent,' Shrinate told ANI. Earlier on May 31, US President Donald Trump claimed credit for brokering the cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan, asserting that he used trade as a negotiation tactic. Speaking at the Oval Office during an event marking Elon Musk's departure from his advisory role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Trump said, 'We stopped India and Pakistan from fighting. I believe that could have turned out into a nuclear disaster, and I want to thank the leaders of India and Pakistan, and I want to thank my people. Also, we talk trade, and we say we can't trade with people who are shooting at each other and potentially using nuclear weapons. They're great leaders in those countries, and they understood and they agreed.' Meanwhile, India has clarified that the cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan took place on May 10 following contacts between the two DGMOs and while there were conversations between Indian and US leaders on the evolving situation since Operation Sindoor was launched, the issue of trade or tariff did not come up in any of those discussions. (ANI) On video of an Indian student handcuffed and pinned to the floor at an airport in the United States that went viral on social media., Shrinate said, 'He is a young student who went to America with the hope of building his future. But the way he was treated -- the way he was slammed and thrashed, the way he was handcuffed, the way he was trampled under boots, the way he was deported -- why is he being treated like an animal? This is happening to our students continuously.' In this regard, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday criticised the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government and accused it of 'failing' to protect and safeguard the dignity of India and Indians abroad. (ANI)
