New Delhi: The CRPF is looking for better
ways to counter hidden IEDs as the mine protected vehicles it
is using have become "coffin on wheels" in Naxal-hit states,
the chief of the force said on Tuesday.
"The mine protected vehicles...the expression is used as
coffins...coffin on wheels. However, these vehicles cannot be
completely written off and we are looking for better ways to
take up the challenge," CRPF Director General K Vijay Kumar
said at a conference here.
Kumar, credited for his earlier stint as the chief of the
Special Task Force (STF) which eliminated sandalwood smuggler
Veerappan, said the response in such cases has to more smarter
and tactful and the force has reduced travelling on such
vehicles.
Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosions have killed
more than 150 security personnel and maimed many others in the
last year in various naxal affected states of the country.
In a large number of cases, the mine protected vehicles
have been blasted to smithereens as the explosives planted
were as huge as 80 kgs and the occupants were killed
instantly.
The force subsequently had issued orders to all its
formations in the Naxal grid to shun the use of vehicles in
these areas and patrol on foot. Only in very rare instances,
vehicles and mine protected trucks are being used at present.
The CRPF had also recovered 1,547 IEDs during 2006-11 and
the number has been increasing over the years, according to
official data.
PTI
