‘Jugaad to pass time': Security forces find TV set in Bastar Maoist hideout

RAIPUR: Security forces on Sunday busted a Maoist dump in Sukma district of Bastar, and found an amusing surprise. Among other things of daily use and Maoist propaganda, they found a TV set, not the 'smart' kind.

Just why an old TV, without any reception technology, was kept with such care in a Maoist hideout is a matter of intrigue.

Police said that it's possibly the first time in Bastar that a TV has been recovered from a Maoist dump.

Asked what the TV may have been used for, an officer laughed and said: "Entertainment, perhaps." It may have belonged to an older cadre, who couldn't bear to part with it, he added. Which means, cadres would have had to lug it around -- not a happy job in jungle terrain.

According to Bastar range IG P Sundarraj, "Security forces have recovered laptops and computer monitors in the past, but it appears that we have found a TV set for the first time. Since it was a hut kind of place where the cadres kept their stuff and might be living as sentries, prima facie, it seems that they kept it for entertainment purposes. What they used it for can be verified after further investigation."

It wasn't an underground Maoist dump, said an officer. "If cadres from this region surrender or are apprehended, we may crack this mystery," he added.

Police suspect it may have been looted from villagers and are seeing if they can trace the purchase from the serial number.

Smart TVs can be used for multiple purposes and the one recovered wasn't found with a dish antenna. It's possible that the militia members might have done some ‘jugaad' to pass the time, said an officer. Maoists are known to use solar cells to power their handsets, walkie-talkies, phones and other electronic gadgets.

The dump was recovered by a joint team of District Reserve Guards and Bastar Fighters who set out on an operation on Saturday evening after receiving inputs about the presence of Maoists from ‘Konta Area Committee' in Danteshpuram, Bhandardara, Nagaram and Korajguda forests in Bhejji area, an insurgency hotspot.

As they marched into the forest on Sunday, the Maoists probably sensed the movement of troops and fled in a hurry, leaving behind the TV, a gun, a tiffin bomb, a pressure IED switch and even medicines. The jawans safely returned to base.


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