IEDs found in poll-bound C'garh ahead of Sonia, Modi rallies

The explosives were kept in steel cases on the road between Dornapal and Jagargunda near Chintalnar in Sukma district

Security forces averted a possible landmine explosion by defusing two IEDs weighing 50 kg in Dantewada area of poll-bound Chhattisgarh, where Congress President Sonia Gandhi and BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi are scheduled to address rallies today.

A joint squad of CRPF and state police detected two big Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) of 25 kg each kept in steel cases on the road between Dornapal and Jagargunda near Chintalnar in Sukma district in the wee hours today.

The forces were conducting an area domination exercise.

The IEDs, concealed beneath, were defused, a senior official said.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice-President Rahul Gandhi are scheduled to address a number of rallies in the state today and tomorrow while BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will make a whirlwind tour of the region today.

The IEDs were recovered at the same spot where Naxalites in 2010 had carried out the deadliest attack on security forces deployed for anti-Naxal operations as they killed 76 of them in a single ambush.