Hyderabad: A day after three Greyhounds commandos were killed in a blast while attempting to defuse an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by the banned CPI (Maoist) in Mulugu district, the police reviewed the security situation on Friday, which led to the discovery of new leads.
A few days earlier, the Maoists had released a letter warning Adivasis not to enter certain hamlets in Mulugu, as those areas were riddled with IEDs. Based on this input, the district police and Greyhounds launched combing operations, which resulted in the detonation of one of the IEDs.
In addition to the deaths of the three commandos, Assistant Sub-Inspector Ranadheer from the Greyhounds was injured during the IED blast in the Nugur forest area near Peddagutta on Thursday. He is currently undergoing treatment.
As they suspect more IEDs have been planted in the area, the Mulugu police have instructed their personnel to adopt enhanced safety measures during combing operations, which will resume shortly. Bomb disposal teams will also be deployed to identify and defuse IEDs.
During the review, senior police officials discussed the possibility of the Maoists carrying out retaliatory attacks in response to the Karregutta encounters, in which central forces reportedly killed several Maoists. They suspect that Maoists who escaped from Karregutta might have planted the IEDs to ambush approaching forces.
The officials felt that the police could enlist the help of surrendered Maoists to identify locations where the outlawed group had planted IEDs targeting police and security forces.
Police officials also verified a letter released in the name of Jagan, a leader of the CPI (Maoist), announcing a six-month ceasefire.
Senior officials are expected to submit a comprehensive report to the Director General of Police regarding the IED ambush, the details of the leads obtained, and the proposed future course of action.
