New Delhi. Maoists are using Diwali firecrackers and incense sticks to attack security forces camps in remote areas in leftist extremism affected areas of the country. Official sources gave this information. Sources told PTI that this ploy of bursting crackers using incense sticks to divert the attention of the soldiers deployed at the camp before launching an attack with rockets and guns was carried out by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Kothagudem district of Telangana on September 25. Seen around Pusuguppa camp.
A senior officer involved in the anti-Naxal operation said that that day at around 6.30 pm when darkness started falling, Telangana-Chhattisgarh. The soldiers deployed in the border camp heard the sound of explosions and saw smoke at a distance of about 200 meters from the boundary of their camp. The officer said that as soon as the CRPF soldiers took up position in the dense forest area, mistaking it for an attack by Naxalites, the hidden Maoist groups opened fire and detonated rockets or barrel grenade launchers (BGL). The soldiers retaliated with INSAS and AK rifles.
The sounds kept coming and the firing continued for about 45 minutes, after which the soldiers came to know that the Naxalites had retreated. Another official present in Delhi said that there was some damage to the fence of the camp but there were no casualties. He said, “There have been some incidents before also, where such tactics were used to distract the soldiers and then their camps were attacked with guns and rockets.” But these things were not definitive, because no evidence was found.”
Another officer said, “The attack on Pusuguppa CRPF camp last month has confirmed that the Naxalites are adopting these new tactics. “The soldiers and the bomb disposal team have collected evidence in this regard.” Experts say that since the Naxalites are not in a position to conduct a face-to-face encounter, they rely on “camouflaged” methods of attack like using IEDs under or around the tracks to carry out deadly attacks on the soldiers.