Two CoBRA personnel injured in IED blast in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur

BIJAPUR (Chhattisgarh): Two personnel of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) sustained minor injuries in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Pillur Kandlaparti area of Bijapur district on Monday, police said.

The incident occurred during an area domination and search operation conducted by security forces in the region. The injured personnel were immediately evacuated and shifted to a nearby medical facility, where their condition is stated to be stable.

Security forces have launched an extensive search operation in the area to trace the Maoists involved in the incident. Further details are awaited.

Earlier, seven Maoists were killed in an exchange of fire amid ongoing anti-Naxal operation along the Bijapur-Dantewada border in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, officials said on December 3.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Bijapur Jitendra Yadav said a joint search operation was launched in the West Bastar Division area by teams of District Reserve Guard (DRG) Dantewada-Bijapur, STF, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), during which intermittent firing began around 9:00 AM.

Meanwhile, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has completed a year-long strategic expansion into the dense and previously inaccessible Abujhmad region of Chhattisgarh, sealing what is believed to be the last major interstate movement corridor used by Naxal insurgents.

The latest milestone in this operation came on November 28 with the establishment of the Lanka Company Operating Base (COB), located around 135 km from Narayanpur. This is the ninth camp set up by the ITBP and Chhattisgarh Police in under three months, marking a rapid and coordinated push along the Orchha-Lanka axis, once regarded as a fortified Naxal sanctuary.

The Lanka COB, jointly manned by personnel from the ITBP’s 44th Battalion, the Chhattisgarh Police, and the District Reserve Guard (DRG), has been positioned just three kilometres from the Maharashtra border. Its presence effectively disrupts a vital southeastern supply and transit route that previously connected Naxal-affected regions across Garhchiroli (Maharashtra), Bijapur (Chhattisgarh) and adjoining areas of Telangana. (ANI)