Mar 03, 2015, at 05:05 pm
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management Two troopers of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) - Constable Gulab Yadav and Constable Narottam Das - were killed and another 12 were injured when Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres blew up a mini-bus carrying personnel near Nandai on the Imamganj - Dumaria route in Gaya District on February 24, 2015. The unit also came under fire from the Maoists after the improvised explosive device (IED) blast. According to Police sources, there was 'heavy force mobilization' in the area in the wake of an encounter in the vicinity a day earlier. The site of the explosion was part of an area believed to be safe, with regular traffic flows, and was not, prima facie in the 'vulnerable' category, which is why the COBRA unit took the liberty of travelling in a mini bus. A measure of complacency may also have crept in because of the decline in Maoist violence in the State in 2014.