Naxals blow up SUV with IED in Bijapur, 8 DRG jawans die

PTI, Bijapur, Jan 6: Eight jawans of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and a civilian driver were killed after Naxals blew up their vehicle with a powerful improvised explosive device (IED) in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Monday, police said. This was the biggest strike by Maoists on security forces in the state in the last two years and the first assault in 2025.

Maoists detonated the IED near Ambeli village under Kutru police station area at around 2:15 pm when DRG personnel from Dantewada district were returning in their Scorpio vehicle after an anti-Naxalite operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P said. All eight DRG jawans traveling in the SUV and the driver of the vehicle were killed on the spot, the official added.

The DRG is a unit of the state police, and its personnel are mostly recruited from the local tribal population and also from surrendered Naxalites. Reinforcements were rushed to the spot, and the bodies of the deceased were being evacuated, he said. A search operation has been launched in the area by security forces, the IPS officer informed.

These DRG personnel were involved in an anti-Naxalite operation carried out for three days on the borders of Narayanpur, Dantewada, and Bijapur districts by joint teams of security personnel, the IG said. Five Naxalites were killed in the three-day-long operation, and one DRG head constable also lost his life, he said. After the operation, DRG personnel from Dantewada were returning to their base in the vehicle when the attack occurred in Kutru area, Sundarraj added.

The site is around 400 km from the state capital Raipur. Visuals from the spot showed a huge crater, more than 10 feet deep, splitting the concrete road after the blast. The vehicle was completely destroyed in the explosion, while dismembered bodies were seen placed on plastic sheets. A part of the vehicle was seen hanging on a nearby tree.

Expressing grief over the death of the DRG personnel and the civilian driver, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said Naxalites are frustrated with the ongoing counter-insurgency operation in the Bastar region and therefore, have resorted to such cowardly acts. "The martyrdom of jawans will not go in vain," he asserted.

"The news of the martyrdom of eight jawans and a driver in an IED blast carried out by Naxalites in Kutru of Bijapur district is extremely sad. My condolences are with the families of the martyrs. I pray to God to rest the souls of the martyred soldiers in peace and provide strength to the bereaved families," Sai said in a statement.

"Naxalites are frustrated with the ongoing anti-Naxal operation in Bastar and have committed such a cowardly act out of frustration. The martyrdom of the soldiers will not go in vain. Our fight to end the menace will continue strongly," he added.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah vowed to eliminate Naxals from the country by March 2026 and asserted that the sacrifice of those killed by the extremists in Chhattisgarh will not go in vain.

"I am deeply saddened by the news of the loss of DRG soldiers in an IED blast in Bijapur (Chhattisgarh). I express my deepest condolences to the families of the brave soldiers. It is impossible to express this grief in words, but I assure you that the sacrifice of our soldiers will not go in vain. We will end Naxalism in India by March 2026," he said in a post on 'X' in Hindi.

This was the biggest strike by Maoists on security forces in the state in the last two years and the first assault in 2025. In the past, numerous attacks have taken place on security forces in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, comprising seven districts, including Dantewada, using IEDs. In the last major assault, ten police personnel and a civilian driver were killed after Naxals blew up their vehicle, part of a convoy carrying security personnel, in neighboring Dantewada district on April 26, 2023.