An easily available 'detonating wire', commonly used in mining operations, has been found to be the catalyst behind numerous deadly IED blasts by Naxals in the red corridors of the country.
Security agencies undertaking anti-Naxal operations are now mulling options to somehow restrict or regulate the sale and usage of the 'Cordtex wire' which they say has found recent prominence among Naxal cadres to set up chain Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts in killing and maiming security personnel and sometimes even civilians, who inadvertently get trapped into these death traps.
"The Naxals are using the Cordtex wire to set up and trigger IEDs containing as many as 250-300 locally made bombs in one go. The phenomenon is called 'daisychain' and this wire acts as a catalyst. A number of IED blasts has been conducted by the ultras using this," a senior officer deployed in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) theatre said, quoting an analysis report prepared in this regard.
A regular Cordtex wire is prepared by embedding explosives and is covered in a plastic sheath which makes it act like a catalyst for blasting explosives inter-twined with its charge ends.
"Its (Cordtex) local variants are much easy to obtain and hence its misuse by Maoist cadres is leading to fatal causalities among security forces," the officer said.
Leading anti-Naxal operations force of the country CRPF has also raised an alarm over its increasing use in conducting IED blasts by Naxals and it has recently issued directives to its operational units on the ground to check against its pilferage and study its characteristics.
"The local commanders of security forces like CRPF have been asked to take up the issue with local mining and state government authorities to check against the pilferage of these wires. They have also been instructed to make sure that the bomb disposal teams in their respective units know what is a Cordtex wire," the officer said.
