Chhattisgarh: Maoists attack ITBP base camp with rockets

Maoists early on Thursday morning attacked an operating base camp of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) at Ranapal in Chhattisgarh’s south Bastar district of Kondagon by launching rockets and opening fire targeting around 100 troopers deployed there.

However, no casualties were reported from ITBP which succeeded in repulsing the Naxal attack after nearly a three-hour-long gunfight with the insurgents, a senior district police officer said.

This was the first time; Naxals used rocket launchers to attack security forces in the three-decade history of Left-wing extremism in Bastar division, comprising seven districts.

“The rocket launchers appeared to be indigenously developed. There was no mark of either any manufacturing company or a country in the shells of the rockets recovered at the attack site,” the police officer told this newspaper.

“The use of the projectile weapons this time by the Naxals has taken us aback. They have been fired from close range. The weapons have been fitted with direction tools as well, pointing towards a R&D they are doing”, an ITBP officer told this newspaper requesting anonymity. “The ITBP camp at Ranapal was attacked by Naxals a little after midnight. There were no casualties from ITBP side,” Kondagaon district ASP Mr Maheshwar said.

Incidentally, a surrendered Maoist had decamped with a rocket launcher and a few live shells from the district armoury of south Bastar district of Bijapur a couple of weeks ago before fleeing the police custody.

The ITBP camp has been set up in January this year to provide security to workers engaged in construction of a road in the area.

“Of the four rocket launchers fired on the camp, three detonated. We have recovered the rest one. The explosives stuffed in the four rockets were enough to destroy the whole camp”, an ITBP officer told this newspaper requesting anonymity.