400 spiked booby traps recovered in Chhattisgarh

New Delhi: About 400 spiked wooden blocks planted to trap and maim patrol and election duty personnel were recovered by security forces as they were looking for hidden landmines in Naxal-affected Bastar area of Chhattisgarh.

Sources said these blocks had sharp nails and chiseled metal rods which would act as deadly booby traps once security men or poll parties walk over them. "While the forces were looking for Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) to defuse them, they were surprised to find these innovative traps. Close to 400 such death clutches were recovered from Bijapur district alone," a senior official said. As compared to the last Assembly polls of 2008, where four persons were killed in 48 incidents in these areas during the poll day, one security personnel was killed in a total of 17 incidents that took place on November 11, the sources said. The first phase of polls were held on this day in the state which covered all the Naxal violence-affected areas. The second phase of polling is scheduled for November 19. Over 56,400 personnel of central paramilitary forces were inducted afresh in the state for the first phase of polls in the state.