A landmine weighing about 40 kg allegedly planted by Maoists at a culvert near Pedamidisileru village, targeting the police deployed on election duty, was unearthed by a joint team of police and CRPF personnel in Charla mandal on Thursday.
Police claimed to have foiled the plot by the Maoist rebels to attack the policemen while they were returning from poll duty soon after Thursday’s Telangana Assembly election with the timely detection of the landmine.
A bomb disposal squad on Friday set off the landmine under safe and controlled conditions in adherence to safety precautions, sources said.
Police have intensified the anti-sabotage checks and combing operations in the border areas adjoining Chhattisgarh’s south Bastar division in the wake of the call given by the CPI (Maoist) to observe the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA) week from December 2 to 8 in the Dandakaranya forest region.
Meanwhile, Bhadradri Kothagudem Superintendent of Police G. Vineeth said people living in far-flung border villages of the Agency exercised their franchise on Thursday despite the threats issued by Maoists.
The turnout in the election was overwhelming and polling was incident-free in Bhadrachalam Assembly constituency and elsewhere in the district, he said.
