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Downed chopper: Police say Maoists making propellers, rocket launchers
Ashutosh Bhardwaj
The Chhattisgarh Police has found that Maoists are at an advanced stage of developing indigenous propellers and rocket launchers, which not only means that their strategic strength is rising but also that they pose a serious threat to aircraft in the Bastar region. On Friday, for the first time, they managed to bring down an IAF helicoper, forcing it to crash-land in Sukma district of the state.
There were several incidents last year of Maoists using mortars or rocket launcher-type equipment to fire bombs at police posts. However, none of these has so far been able to cause major damage as some fell short of the target and others were not powerful enough.
The Sunday Express has seen booklets and diagrams in Maoist camps as well as equipment seized by police that confirm the trend. While it appears that the equipment are not in the final stages, the fact that Maoists are working towards knocking down choppers alarms the police.
"They are certainly at an advanced stage of developing some form of propellers and have been regularly testing these by hurling bombs at our posts. So far the bombs are not so powerful as to cause any major damage. But it could be because they are only experimenting and testing the waters right now," Narainpur SP Mayank Srivastava told The Sunday Express. "Once they develop these fully, they will assume a very strong position, especially against a moving object like a chopper."
At present, the Maoists seem to have two major kind of propellers — traditional mortar-like equipment to hurl an explosive or a projectile and propellers fitted with bombs that are similar to rocket crackers seen during Diwali.
"They seem to have these rocket like crackers in plenty. So far they are only testing these but it may not be too far off before they develop some capacity," Kanker SP Rahul Bhagat said.
"They have been developing propellers and used them in the past too. We have seized such literature, last year's arrest of some Maoists belonging to their technical committee also confirmed this. But their propellers are still in a crude form," ADG (Naxal Ops) R K Vij said.
Last October, Maoists had hurled some bombs through a propeller at Golapalli police station in Sukma. The bombs could not hit the thana and fell nearly 100 m short. A few months before they had carried out a similar attack on Kokrajhor thana in Narainpur district and Koylibeda police station in Kanker district. It did not cause any harm, but the police in both districts later seized some equipment from their camps that included variants of propellers and rocket launchers.
During its Operation Abujhmaad last March too, the CRPF had seized literature from Maoist camps on how to make rocket launchers and bring down aircraft. These included booklets, maps and diagrams in English, Hindi and Telugu on making such equipment.
The development is most alarming for the Mi-17s of the Indian Air Force operating in Chhattisgarh. Maoists have often managed to hit these choppers. They fired at a chopper which was on an operational sortie in the interior forests of Sukma in December 2011. Nearly 10 bullets had hit the IAF chopper that had lost its communication and was reported missing for some time. In an earlier incident during the Assembly polls, Maoists had managed to kill an election officer on poll duty in Bastar seated in a chopper.
Several police stations of Bastar are located in absolute wilderness, surrounded by hills and dense forests. With no roads linking them, rations and personnel are airlifted to these areas. Mi-17s often land at police stations inside deep forests without any security cover.
\About measures required to ensure safety of choppers, ADG Vij said: "We need to sanitise the helipad area. It's'a difficult hilly terrain. A war is on and these things do take place."
Ashutosh Bhardwaj
The Chhattisgarh Police has found that Maoists are at an advanced stage of developing indigenous propellers and rocket launchers, which not only means that their strategic strength is rising but also that they pose a serious threat to aircraft in the Bastar region. On Friday, for the first time, they managed to bring down an IAF helicoper, forcing it to crash-land in Sukma district of the state.
There were several incidents last year of Maoists using mortars or rocket launcher-type equipment to fire bombs at police posts. However, none of these has so far been able to cause major damage as some fell short of the target and others were not powerful enough.
The Sunday Express has seen booklets and diagrams in Maoist camps as well as equipment seized by police that confirm the trend. While it appears that the equipment are not in the final stages, the fact that Maoists are working towards knocking down choppers alarms the police.
"They are certainly at an advanced stage of developing some form of propellers and have been regularly testing these by hurling bombs at our posts. So far the bombs are not so powerful as to cause any major damage. But it could be because they are only experimenting and testing the waters right now," Narainpur SP Mayank Srivastava told The Sunday Express. "Once they develop these fully, they will assume a very strong position, especially against a moving object like a chopper."
At present, the Maoists seem to have two major kind of propellers — traditional mortar-like equipment to hurl an explosive or a projectile and propellers fitted with bombs that are similar to rocket crackers seen during Diwali.
"They seem to have these rocket like crackers in plenty. So far they are only testing these but it may not be too far off before they develop some capacity," Kanker SP Rahul Bhagat said.
"They have been developing propellers and used them in the past too. We have seized such literature, last year's arrest of some Maoists belonging to their technical committee also confirmed this. But their propellers are still in a crude form," ADG (Naxal Ops) R K Vij said.
Last October, Maoists had hurled some bombs through a propeller at Golapalli police station in Sukma. The bombs could not hit the thana and fell nearly 100 m short. A few months before they had carried out a similar attack on Kokrajhor thana in Narainpur district and Koylibeda police station in Kanker district. It did not cause any harm, but the police in both districts later seized some equipment from their camps that included variants of propellers and rocket launchers.
During its Operation Abujhmaad last March too, the CRPF had seized literature from Maoist camps on how to make rocket launchers and bring down aircraft. These included booklets, maps and diagrams in English, Hindi and Telugu on making such equipment.
The development is most alarming for the Mi-17s of the Indian Air Force operating in Chhattisgarh. Maoists have often managed to hit these choppers. They fired at a chopper which was on an operational sortie in the interior forests of Sukma in December 2011. Nearly 10 bullets had hit the IAF chopper that had lost its communication and was reported missing for some time. In an earlier incident during the Assembly polls, Maoists had managed to kill an election officer on poll duty in Bastar seated in a chopper.
Several police stations of Bastar are located in absolute wilderness, surrounded by hills and dense forests. With no roads linking them, rations and personnel are airlifted to these areas. Mi-17s often land at police stations inside deep forests without any security cover.
\About measures required to ensure safety of choppers, ADG Vij said: "We need to sanitise the helipad area. It's'a difficult hilly terrain. A war is on and these things do take place."
