50 Kg Bomb In Chhattisgarh Attack, Cops Were Travelling In Rented Van

The Maoist ambush in Chhattisgarh today that killed 10 policemen and a driver involved the use of a powerful 50-kg improvised explosive device (IED) that left a massive hole on the road and uprooted trees. The policemen of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) were travelling in a rented mini-van, sources said, adding the commuter vehicle that offers no ballistic protection may have been flung at least 20 feet by the force of the explosion. Sources said the debris of the destroyed van fell 150 metres from the blast site. Visuals of the ambush site in Dantewada district show a big crater - 10 feet deep and 20 feet wide - that covers the road's entire width, indicating the Maoists used a huge quantity of explosives to trigger the ambush The Maoists may have used 10 times the quantity of explosives to target the van in which the policemen were travelling, Major General Ashwini Siwach, the former chief of the Territorial Army, told NDTV today. The DRG team was returning after conducting an anti-Maoist operation when the attack happened.