NEW DELHI: A day after seven CRPF jawans were killed in a landmine blast by Maoists in Dantewada district, the force’s Director General K Durga Prasad on Thursday said information about the troop movement was ‘leaked’ by a ‘mole’ within or outside the force.
“It is certain that the information about their movement was leaked. Somewhere or at some stage, this has happened. The boys were doing a surprise non-operational movement and hence, were in mufti. We are looking into it,” he said.The Maoists had triggered the landmine while the CRPF men were travelling in a mini-truck from one camp to another. The force has instituted a Court of Inquiry and is also investigating the role of the suspected mole.
Prasad said they were working on the leak theory due to a number of facts visible in the incident. “The men were travelling in normal, non-force vehicle and were not going for any operation. There has been no attack on that road and hence, no advance road opening party used to be deployed there. But, information got leaked about their movement,” he said.
He said about 50-60 kgs of explosives might have been planted beneath the road to trigger the explosive. Officials in the intelligence CRPF wing indicated that two to three Naxals may have been present near the blast spot and joined the wires to ignite the IED as soon as the vehicle went over it.