In April this year, the Maoists had triggered a landmine blast in the same area, killing five polling personnel during the Lok Sabha elections.

While the Naxalites have been lying low in Bastar, there were intelligence inputs in the last couple of weeks about movement of cadres in Manpur-Mohalla in Rajnandgaon which borders Maharashtra, at some places bordering Kanker and Dhamtari districts, and in the diamond belt area of Gariaband forests in Raipur district.

Meanwhile, the Congress was quick to blame the BJP government in general and the police in particular, saying that the entire machinery has become ineffective in dealing with the problem of Naxalism. “Why don’t the police learn a lesson from West Bengal, where the security forces liberated Lalgarh from the Maoists by working in coordination with the paramilitary forces,” said state PCC chief Dhanendra Sahu.