JAMSHEDPUR: Six CRPF and CoBRA jawans were injured under Tonto police station limits in West Singhbhum district on Wednesday after the Maoists triggered an IED blast. The IED exploded during an anti-Maoist operation in the Tumbahata forests.
Police headquarters in a statement said that teams of CoBRA, Jharkhand Jaguar and the CRPF launched a joint operation in the Tumbahaka forest under Tonto police station following information regarding presence of large number of Maoists in the area.
"The extremists triggered the IEDs when the security forces were marching through the jungle," Ajay Linda, the DIG of Kolhan range, said. The Maoists also opened fire on the security forces after the explosion and the forces retaliated. "Splinters of the blast caused injuries to the jawans. However, none were killed in the firing. Two jawans have suffered superficial injuries while the remaining four have received multiple bodily injuries," Linda added.
The DIG said that additional forces of Jharkhand Jaguar (JJ), CRPF, CoBRA and district police have been pressed into the site of explosion for cordon and search operations.
The injured persons - Bharat Singh Rai, Beerpal Singh Tomar, Alak Das, Shahrukh Khan, Mukesh Kumar Singh and Ajay Linda - were brought to Ranchi by chopper at around 4 pm and admitted in Medica. All of them belong to the 209 CoBRA battalion of the CRPF. All were airlifted to Ranchi for treatment.
Bharat has sustained head and leg injuries, Linda has injuries on his leg, thigh and neck, while the remaining jawans have limb injuries. They were stated to be safe, according to latest report.
During the search operation, the Maoists fired heavily on the security forces and exploded improvised explosive devices at around 1 pm. The Maoists fled taking advantage of the forest after an exchange of fire for about half an hour. The jawans sustained splinter injuries due to the IED blasts.
Police said that according to preliminary information, the Maoist have also suffered heavy losses adding the operation was continuing.
West Singhbhum SP Ashutosh Shekhar said operations against the Maoists will be intensified in the area. "Maoists have also suffered injuries in the retaliatory firing and we will get concluding reports soon," Shekhar added.
Earlier, the security forces had ventured into the forest on receiving intelligence inputs about the movement of top Maoist leader Misir Besra and his squad in the area. Besra carries a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his head.
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