Landmines were live for four years

Naxals waited for VIP before triggering them off

Police at the spot where the land mines were hidden and bomb disposal squad defusing the land mine

Naxals waited for VIP before triggering them off

The four landmines that were diffused at Venkatamanahalli in Pavagada on Sunday have been placed there for the past four years. Even when they were found, they were live and strong and could easily blow up five vehicles.

The naxals have been waiting for a VIP to pass by the road, so that they could blow up the VIP convoy. "In these four years they did not find their desired target. They wanted to make a huge impact but did not get a chance. Even when we defused the bombs on Sunday, they were strong enough to blow up four to five vehicles easily," said Tumkur superintendent of police, P S Harsha.

The landmines were placed below a bridge on the road between Tirumani and Venkatamannahalli. "They were ready and had to be only triggered. They were improvised explosive devices with a high quantity of gelatine," he said.

'No police failure'

Harsha denies that there was any failure on the part of the police in detecting the landmines. In fact the mines had not been triggered only due to the police presence there, he claims. "It is not only that they did not find a target.u00a0 Police presence in the place was heightened." He said the naxal organisation was also de-estabilised by the police and they were unable to contact each other and trigger the mine. Many members were killed in encounters and hence there was no inkling of these hidden landmines.

The last link

The last link was Peddanna, who was arrestedu00a0 on December 31 and he revealed about the mines, he said. Peddanna is the prime suspect in a case where naxals gunned down nine Karnataka State Reserve Police personnel.

On February 10, 2005 after undertaking combing operations against naxals in Pavagada close to Andhra Pradesh border, the police personnel were resting in a school building.u00a0 Ultras raided the premises and opened fire.

Soon after this attack, police defused two landmines which were detected under a bridge, 11 tin bombs which were found abandoned, and eight grenades which were thrown by the attackers, but did not explode, were seized and defused.