15kg IED recovered during anti-Naxal operation in Chhattisgarh, India
A joint operation conducted by the 53rd Battalion of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the Chhattisgarh Police, India, recovered a 15kg pressure cooker improvised explosive device.
The anti-Naxal operation against Maoist insurgent positions in Chhattisgarh state's Abujhmad region also recovered a locally made rocket launcher, mortar rounds and a cache of other explosive materials.
The operation began at around 05:00 on Tuesday 7 July, and the entire team returned safely to their Adingpar camp at around 16:30. The local outlet ETV Bharat reported that a bomb disposal and detection squad safely defused the IED on the spot, averting a potential major tragedy.
The joint operation was led by Assistant Commandant Azad Singh and included 34 personnel from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, one representative from the Chhattisgarh Police, and the five-member bomb disposal and detection squad. The recovered weapons and explosives have been seized as per procedure, and further investigation is underway.
The Naxalites have staged a low-level insurgency against the Indian government as far back as the 1960s, with its peak occurring in the 2000s. In October 2025, the Indian government declared that only three districts were most affected by Naxalite insurgents, down from the previous total of six in March that year. The most affected districts were named as Bijapur, Sukma and Narayanpur, all in the south of Chhattisgarh.
